My Glorious Purpose
by Is-It-Madness
Summary: Yeah so I stuck at summaries. Basically it's a story about my OC and Loki. *The cover art is not mine, I found it on the internet. I don't own any of the characters, just my OC.*
1. Conference Room

_A/N:Hey everyone! Welcome to my first published work on this site! Just want to make a note that this is my work, I also have this posted on Wattpad, so no I didn't steal it. Anyway, enjoy! I hope you guys like it!_

_(Tera's POV)_

I run through the helicarrier, not believing what Natasha told me. A Norse god? Here? At S.H.I.E.L.D? She said there was a small scuffle in Stuttgart.

_Yeah right, _I think to myself as I continue my path down to the cell they are keeping him. There is no such thing as a small scuffle when a super soldier and Tony Stark team up to take him down. Natasha didn't tell me his name, but that may be because I ran out of the room to see him for myself.

I reach the door that had the cells on the other side. I try to open the door, but it's locked and I don't have a key card. _One of the perks of being an intern,_ I think to myself, frustrated at my inability to enter.

"Something wrong?"

I spin around, coming face-to-face with Natasha. She gives me a smirk when I sigh.

"I wanna see the 'Norse god' you were talking about," I tell her, putting air quotes around Norse god because I still haven't seen him.

"Come with me, Fury's having a chat with him right now. We can watch from the bridge."

"Okay," I tell her.

We walk through the set of doors to find Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers already watching the scene unfold.

"Dr. Banner, I'd like you to meet one of our interns here at S.H.I.E.L.D."

I stick my hand out, "Nice to meet you Doctor."

He hesitates slightly before taking my hand in a firm shake.

Our attention is brought back to the screen by the sound of the wind screaming.

"_Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" _Fury tells a man with dark black hair, who is imprisoned in the cage.

He pushes a button and closes the floor. He gestures first to the man.

"_Ant." _He then points towards the panel, "_Boot."_

"_It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."_

This is the first time I hear him speak. He speaks with eloquence and formality. His accent is almost British, but there's something else to it that makes it seem more sophisticated.

"_Built for something a lot stronger than you," _Fury shoots back.

"_Oh I've heard," _the man says, turning to look at the camera, directly at us, as if he knew we are watching. Dr. Banner gives Natasha a look. He must have known that S.H.I.E.L.D. would take precautions.

"_A mindless beast‒ makes play he's still a man."_

I suddenly notice that a tall, blond, and extremely muscular man is in the room with us and is not watching but listening intently.

"_How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" _the black-haired man mocks.

Fury takes several steps closer to the cage, "_How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."_

"_Ooh. It burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power‒ unlimited power‒ and for what?" _the prisoner asks. He looks back at the camera, towards us, and with a smile he says, "_A warm light for all mankind to share?"_

He turns back to face Fury, "_And then to be reminded what real power is."_

Fury just smirks back at him, unshaken. "_Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," _he says before taking his leave.

The monitors go black.

Captain Rogers looks up at us from where he sits, watching.

"He really grows on you doesn't he?" Dr. Banner asks dryly.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Captain Rogers asks, turning to the muscle man standing beside me.

"Wait. Thor? As in _the _Thor? Like son of Odin, the god of thunder, wielder of Mjolnir? And your adopted brother, Loki? _that's _who we have? You're _that _Thor?" I ask, incredulous.

He looks at me, with an eyebrow raised. "Yes mortal child, that is I whom you speak of. How do you know so much of me? We have only just met."

Embarrassed by my outburst, I simply mumble, "I read a lot. Also I'm not a child."

I make note of Natasha smirking at me from the corner of my eye, as Thor smiles at me before turning back to the Captain.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

Agent Maria Hill joins us in the conference room. She stands behind Thor, quietly listening.

"An army, from outer space?" Steve says in disbelief.

Dr. Banner fiddles with his glasses, "So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor repeats.

"He's an astrophysicist," the doctor explains.

"He's a friend," Thor responds.

Natasha looks up and speaks for the first time since the screens went dark. "Loki has them under some kind of spell - along with one of ours."

I can hear the hurt in her voice, she and Clint had a special bond, they were like siblings.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Steve says turning to Dr. Banner.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him," Banner jokes.

Thor takes a step closer to the table, "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."

Natasha gave Thor a look. "He killed eighty people in two days."

"He's... adopted." Thor falters, blaming Loki's action on his adoption. I roll my eyes.

Banner speaks up, "I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?"

We hear a voice answer back from the hall, coming closer.

"It's a stabilizing agent."

It's Tony Stark, walking beside Agent Coulson. He whispers something to Coulson about keeping love alive. I raise an eyebrow, but don't say anything. Coulson smiles before heading off in another direction. Tony starts walking towards Thor.

"Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony explains, with a wave of his hand. "No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing," he says patting Thor's biceps with the back of his hand.

Thor gives him a look of death, but Tony doesn't see it as he heads towards the control panels. Agent Hill rolls her eyes as Tony walks past her.

Tony continues without missing a beat, "Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants."

Tony turns to face the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, "Ah, raise the mizzen mast, ship the topsails."

They all turn to look at him, with confusion plastered all over their faces. I can't help but laugh.

Tony suddenly points out excitedly. "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

We all look towards the man Tony had pointed out, and sure enough, he is playing Galaga.

Tony walks towards the command area of the ship, where Fury usually stands.

He covers an eye. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns." Agent Hill responds simply, with her arms crossed.

"Sounds exhausting."

Tony starts messing around with the screen. Pushing things, moving them aside.

"Is he even allowed to touch that?" I ask Nat.

She just shrugs and rolls her eyes.

"The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube." Tony says.

Agent Hill interrupts him. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." responds Tony, with attitude.

Hill looks at him, confused.

"The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers, " Tony elaborates. "Am I the only one who did the reading?" he asks with his arm open. "And why is there a kid here?" he asks, pointing at me.

I give him a tight smile. Why does everyone think I'm a kid? "I'm actually an intern here, Mr. Stark. Agent Romanoff is my mentor."

"Intern, huh? How old are you? 15? 16?"

"Nineteen, actually. Sir." I add, not wanting to be rude, because Mr. Stark is a genius and you don't want a genius against you. They can come up with some cruel, _creative_ ways to get revenge.

Steve speaks up, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

Banner responds, still playing with his glasses, "He'd have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

I start to zone out. I have no idea what they were saying, and besides, this isn't the field I'm planning on going in to.

I snap out of my daydream when Director Fury enters the room.

With his eye on Tony, he tells him, "Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him."

Steve interjects, "I'd start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor asks, "I do not understand‒"

"I do!" Steve interjects, excited.

We all turn to look at him, while Tony rolls his eyes. I feel a smile forming on my lips.

"I understand that reference," he continues.

I think he's happy to find something in this world that he actually understands.

Tony breaks the silence. He turns to Dr. Banner. "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"This way, sir." He answers and they walk out.


	2. The Interrogation

As soon as Tony leaves, I see the man who Tony called out quickly return to his game. Natasha gets up to leave, I follow her.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

She simply replies, "Interrogation."

"I thought you got everything you needed from Georgi Luchkov."

"No, I mean our new prisoner."

I stop in my path. "Do you think that's a good idea? I mean he's a powerful being. He can read minds, create illusions, he's a skilled magician!"

She turns to look at me, a smile forming on her lips. I know that look. It usually means I gave her an idea—one that I would not like.

"Yes, it's a good idea. And since you know so much about him, you're coming with me."

I pale. I knew I wasn't going to like her idea.

Natasha takes me by the hand. "Don't worry, кроли. You can just watch, you don't have to say anything. And besides, you've been saying how much you wanted to see me do interrogations, right?"

I smile softly at Natasha's name for me. She started calling me that when we first met. She says my small build and bounce in my step reminded her of a bunny.

"I do want to see one of your interrogations! I just didn't think it would be with the God of Mischief."

She just laughs and pulls me along the hall with her. Before we enter, she places a finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet. I nod. She presses her thumb on the keypad and scans her eye. The doors open and we enter. We see Loki pacing his cell. The first thing I notice is how tall he is. Six feet at least, a giant indeed. He is wearing green and gold battle armor, and his hair is as dark as an inky black sky. He stops his pacing.

"Hm."

He turns to face us, and I'm shocked to see that he is smiling.

"There's not many people that can sneak up on me."

"But you figured I'd come." Natasha answers him.

"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate," he says, still smiling.

I glance at Natasha, she's unfazed by anything he says and gets right to the point.

"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton."

"I'd say I've expanded his mind," Loki says, innocently.

Natasha tilts her head and takes several steps closer to the cage.

"And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?" she asks, crossing her arms. I stay back, letting Natasha continue her interrogation.

Loki gives her a smile. "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for children. I owe him a debt," she says.

Loki takes several steps back to sit on the bench in his cage and gestures. "Tell me."

Natasha licks her lips and unfolds her arms. "Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., I uh well, I made a name for myself," she began while she sat herself on a chair. "I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call."

Loki was looking down while Natasha was speaking, but when she finished, he looks up at her.

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"

"Not let you out," She said with a smile.

Loki leans forward, with his arms resting on his leg, a smile plastered on his face.

"Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall everyday. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian, or I was."

"And what are you now?" he asks her.

Natasha stands, refolds her arms, and walks closer to Loki, "It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you?" he asks, "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire?" He stood and began walking towards Natasha. "Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?"

There is a look of horror on Natasha's face. I want to go to her, comfort her, but I couldn't. I know she wouldn't want me to. She had told me to just watch. I'm not allowed to do more. I knew Natasha's story. She had shared hers when I was scared to share mine.

Loki continues, "This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child, a prayer. Pathetic. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code‒ something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!"

Loki slams his fist against the glass. Natasha and I jump back.

"I won't touch Barton! Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear."

I can see the fear written all over her face as Loki growls at her.

"And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work,"

She turns away from Loki in horror.

"And when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!

Natasha hangs her head, and I can hear her crying.

"You're a monster!"

Loki grins at her menacingly, "Oh, no. You brought the monster."

I snap my attention towards Loki. Natasha lifts her head and turns to face him. I notice her face is completely dry. Oh, she's _good_.

"So, Banner? That's your play," she asks him.

"What?" He's confused. Natasha made him believe he had the upper hand which allowed him to give up his own play. Smart. Using the "women are helpless" card. One of the many reasons why I love Natasha.

Natasha starts to walk out of the room. I follow her.

She begins speaking into her earpiece, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well."

She turns towards me, "I'm going to need you to stay here with him."

"What? Why? Why me?"

"Cause you know what he is capable of. You know his powers better than anyone. Except Thor and we need him in the lab with Dr. Banner. Don't worry. You won't be down here for long. I'll get you as soon as we work this out."

I nod. She begins to walk out before turning around to face Loki.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

She turns and leaves.

I stand several feet away from the cage, with my back turned and arms folded.

_Okay_, I think to myself. _I can do this, it's just standing guard. It's not that big of a deal. It's literally just standing. _A thought occurs to me. _Please don't let him talk to me! _

"Don't you know that it is rude to have your back facing another?"

Shoot.

_Don't you know it's rude to try and take over planets? Or were you not taught that in your etiquette class?_

He laughs, "No, I do not believe I was ever taught that."

_Dammit, Tera! You know he can read minds!_

"Is that your name?" he asks me, with my back still facing him. "I wish to converse with you face-to-face, Tera, like civilized people."

_Okay just don't think about anything! He can't read my mind if I'm not thinking anything,_ I try to convince myself.

He laughs again. "Please." he says, "I can do much more than hear your thoughts mortal girl. I can dive into your subconscious, I can learn your greatest fears and deepest secrets. And I will do so if you do not face me!"

I sigh in defeat. I slowly turn around to face him, but I keep my eyes downcast.

"Look at me."

"Or what?"

"Hmm. I think I will kill you myself when the Chitauri invade."

I snap my head to him, afraid.

"That's better," he says with a smile.

He goes back to sitting on his bench and gestures for me to sit where Natasha had been.

"I prefer to stand," I tell him coldly.

He smiles and bows his head in understanding. "You wish to remain standing to keep your guard up, yes? I will respect this decision child."

I ball up my fists. Child?! This is the third time today I've been called one, but I don't say anything in response.

"Since Agent Romanoff has completed her interrogation with me, perhaps I can ask you questions."

I frown at him. "You aren't going to be getting any answers from me."

He just chuckles. "No, no. You misunderstand. I simply want to ask about _you._"

I look at him in disbelief. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You may answer my questions to the best of your ability, and if you choose not to answer, I will respect that decision."

"What's going to stop you from reading my mind?" I ask, weary of what he's trying to do.

"I admire your skepticism mortal, but fear not. You have my word that I will not make any attempt to read your thoughts."

"Okay," I say quietly. " Can I think about it for a sec?"

"By all means."

I begin to pace, I can feel his eyes watching me. He said he wanted to ask questions about me, so that wouldn't compromise S.H.I.E.L.D. in any way. But what if he asks me questions I don't want to answer? He _did_ say I don't have to answer if I don't want to. And reading my mind? I didn't exactly trust him just because he gave me his word. He is a criminal. But I'm curious to know what he wants to ask me, and besides, Natasha would be back soon. This is the only time I'll ever be alone with him, and it would only be for a few minutes.

I turn to face him. He was watching me with an intent look in his eyes.

"Have you made up your mind?" he asks me.

"Yes. You can ask me some questions, but remember, I don't have to answer if I don't want to and you can't read my mind. Agreed?"

He nods his head.

"Okay, what's your first question?"

"Your first name is Tera, yes?"

I nod.

"I notice you became annoyed when I called you a child. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"Well if you are not a child, how old are you?"

I became suspicious. "What will you gain by knowing how old I am?"

He smiles, "I will learn that you are not a child."

I glare at him before giving my answer, "I'm 19."

He continues smiling. "Yes, I suppose you are not a child."

"Humph."

"Alright, here's another question. How did you know I was able to read your mind? And what did Agent Romanoff mean when she said you know me better than anyone here besides the oaf?"

I smile to myself. "Well, before I met you and Thor, I believed you were myths, legends, stories of old. When I was younger, I was fascinated by mythology. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse," I say giving him a pointed look. "I would try to learn anything and everything that had to do with mythology. I guess you could say it was a hobby," I shrug. "I was always reading. Any chance that I got, any free time I had, I would use it to read. Still do actually," I say with a small smile.

I look up at Loki. He holds my gaze. I quickly look away, feeling heat rising to my face.

_What in the world?!_ I scold myself. _He's a villain! Why are you blushing?_

I'm brought out of my thoughts when I hear him laughing.

_Oh great! He read my thoughts! I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!_

"Perhaps you and I are not so different, Tera."

I scoff, "I'm sorry, what?"

"We are intellectuals, you and I. We both indulge in the joys of reading."

"Oh."

_Oh, thank God! He wasn't reading my thoughts. Okay get yourself together! No more slip ups._

"What else do you know about me?"

"Oh, um, well you can read minds, cast illusions and spells, shape-shift, you have super strength. Yeah that's pretty much all I know." I actually know more about him. His past, his parents, crimes he's committed. But I decide now is not the best time to mention them.

"Shame," he says. " I liked hearing you list off all my abilities. They sound better coming from a mortal."

I look at him confused.

He sighs, "I was jesting. Do you mortals engage in this past time? Based on all the people I have met so far, I would think not."

I laugh. "You haven't exactly given a reason for us to joke with you."

He smiles, "No, I suppose not."

"Do you have any other questions for me?"

Loki hesitates before opening his mouth to speak, "Do you have any family?"

The smile vanishes from my face. "I don't wish to answer that question," I say quietly.

He nods, "I understand," he pauses. "I have enjoyed this chat of ours."

I give him a small smile. "Glad to know that we bonded," I tell him sarcastically. "Now I'm sure you're going to continue taking Earth over."

He chuckles, "You're not wrong."

I see him start muttering under his breath.

"What are you doing?" I ask, taking several steps away from the cage.

Loki waves his hand and I suddenly feel faint. I drop to the floor, heavy and unable to lift myself up. I can barely see him come to the edge of his cage.

He crouches and tells me, "For someone who knows so much about me, you should have known that I would be able to use my magic on you."

I'm able to whisper, "I hate you," before passing out. But before I do, I see a look in Loki's eyes. I'm confused because it looks, sad? No, regretful.


	3. Escape

_(Loki's POV)_

I must admit, I'm surprised by the way Agent Romanoff was able to get me to reveal my plan to her. She was intelligent. For a mortal. And yet she had decided to leave a child to guard my cell. The mere thought of it brought a smile to my face. I would easily manipulate her to join me. I did not need my scepter for this. My silver tongue would suffice. I saw the worry on her face when Agent Romanoff told her to stay here and watch me, but now her back was turned. I began to listen to her thoughts, curious as to what she thought about being left alone with me.

"_Okay." _I hear her tell herself. "_I can do this, it's just standing guard. It's not that big of a deal. It's literally just standing." _A pause before, "_Please don't let him talk to me!"_

I smile.

"Don't you know that it is rude to have your back facing another?" I tell her.

I begin to listen again when she doesn't turn.

"_Don't you know it's rude to try and take over planets? Or were you not taught that in your etiquette class?"_

I laugh, she is quite amusing. And stubborn.

"No, I do not believe I was ever taught that."

"_Dammit, Tera! You know he can read minds!"_

"Is that your name?" I ask her, curious, her back was still towards me. Hmm. She knew I was reading her thoughts. Interesting.

"I wish to converse with you face-to-face Tera, like civilized people." I was beginning to become frustrated.

"_Okay just don't think about anything! He can't read my mind if I'm not thinking anything," _she tells herself.

I laugh again. "Please." I tell her, " I can do much more than hear your thoughts mortal girl. I can dive into your subconscious, I have the ability to learn your greatest fears and deepest secrets. And I will do so if you do not face me!"

She sighs in defeat. She turns around slowly to face me, but she refuses to look at me. Her eyes wander everywhere else, but she refuses to meet my gaze.

"Look at me."

"Or what?"

"Hmm. I think I will kill you myself when the Chitauri invade."

She snaps her head up to me. I can see the fear in her eyes.

"That's better," I say with a smile. Finally, _someone _who knows when they are threatened.

I return to sit on the uncomfortable bench. I gesture for her to sit as well. I may be attempting to take over the Earth, but I am still a gentleman. Mother would be disappointed with me if I kept a lady standing. Even if she is a Midgardian.

"I prefer to stand," she says coldly.

I smile and bow my head. "You wish to remain standing to keep your guard up, yes? I will respect this decision child."

I noticed she clenches her fists when I call her a child.

_This will be fun. _I smirk.

"Since Agent Romanoff has completed her interrogation with me, perhaps I can ask you some questions."

She frowns. "You aren't going to be getting any answers from me."

I chuckle. "No, no. You misunderstand. I simply want to ask about _you._"

She looks at me, shocked. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You may answer my questions to the best of your ability, and if you choose not to answer, I will respect that decision."

"What's going to stop you from reading my mind?" she asks, on edge, looking as if I might pounce on her.

"I admire your skepticism mortal, but fear not. You have my word that I will not make any attempt to read your thoughts."

"Okay," she says quietly. " Can I think about it for a sec?"

"By all means."

She begins to pace, and I watch her.

Wanting to earn her trust, I restrain myself from hearing what she is debating. After several minutes she turns to face me.

"Have you made up your mind?" I ask her.

"Yes. You can ask me some questions, but remember, I don't have to answer if I don't want to and you can't read my mind. Agreed?"

I nod. It was good thinking on her part to lay out the term. She kept surprising me with her actions.

"Okay, what's your first question?"

"Your first name is Tera, yes?"

She nods.

"I notice you became annoyed when I call you a child. Is this true"

"Yes."

"Well if you are not a child, how old are you?"

I see the suspicion growing on her face.

"What will you gain by knowing how old I am?"

I smile, "I will learn that you are not a child."

She glares before answering, "I'm 19."

I continue smiling. "Yes, I suppose you are not a child."

"Humph."

"Alright, here's another question. How did you know I was able to read your mind? And what did Agent Romanoff mean when she said you know me better than anyone here besides the oaf?"

I need to know how she knows so much about me. This is my first time on Midgard and yet she knows of my ability to read minds.

She smiles. "Well, before I met you and Thor, I believed you were myths, legends, stories of old. When I was younger, I was fascinated by mythology. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse," She says giving me a knowing look. "I would try to learn anything and everything that had to do with mythology. I guess you could say it was a hobby," she shrugs. "I was always reading. Any chance that I got, any free time I had, I would use it to read. Still do actually," she says with a small smile.

She looks back at me after her gaze had wandered. I hold her gaze. She quickly looks away. I make a note of the flush rising to her cheeks. I want to delve into her mind. To know what she is thinking, but I held back. I gave her my word.

I start laughing, realizing something.

"Perhaps you and I are not so different, Tera," I say.

She scoffs, "I'm sorry, what?"

"We are intellectuals, you and I. We both indulge in the joys of reading."

"Oh."

"What else do you know about me?" Just how much of my power does she know?

"Oh, um, well you can read minds, cast illusions and spells, shapeshift, you have super strength." She hesitates before continuing, as if wanting to say something else, but she held back. "Yeah that's pretty much all I know."

"Shame," I say. " I liked hearing you list off all my abilities. They sound better coming from a mortal."

She looks at me, puzzled.

I sigh, "I was jesting. Do you mortals engage in this past time? Based on all the people I have met so far, I would think not."

She laughs. "You haven't exactly given a reason for us to joke with you."

I smile, "No, I suppose not."

"Do you have any other questions for me?"

I hesitate before asking, "Do you have any family?"

The smile vanishes from her face. "I don't wish to answer that question," she says quietly.

I nod, "I understand," I pause. "I have enjoyed this chat of ours."

And I did. Finally, someone who is able to hold a normal conversation with me. It's a shame I would be taking over this planet. But I have a duty. I have no time for distractions or pleasantries.

She gives a small smile. "Glad to know that we bonded," I can hear the sarcasm in her voice. "Now I'm sure you're going to continue taking Earth over."

I chuckle, "You're not wrong."

I know that Barton has reached the helicarrier, and I know that the beast will be unleashed any second. For reasons, I am unable to explain, I did not want this Midgardian child in harm's way. She may believe she is not a child, but I disagree. She is extremely small. If the beast reaches her, well, he would be able to snap her neck before she knew what was happening. I didn't want her to die. Not yet. I want to know why she wouldn't speak of her family. I want to find out.

I begin muttering an incantation under my breath.

"What are you doing?" she asks, taking several steps away from the cage.

I wave my hand, casting a simple sleeping spell on her. She drops to the floor with a thud. I walk toward the edge of the cage.

I crouch and I tell her with some amusement, "For someone who knows so much about me, you should have known that I would be able to use my magic on you."

I hear her whisper, "I hate you," before passing out. I look at her, I don't know why but my heart feels regretful. Seeing this girl, laying on the floor. But there are more important things than a small child. Much more important things.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by the roar of the beast. I smile and wait, knowing that Thor will be here to make sure I'm still locked up. Several minutes pass by. He must be engaging with the beast. A moment later, I see Thor running into the room. I begin to let myself out.

"Nooo!"

He runs towards me, I crouch, making him believe I was preparing for impact, but he went right through one of my illusions, straight into the cell. The door closes behind him. He stands up and looks around before his eyes land on me.

I gave him a look of disappointment. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

Frustrated, he begins to pound away at the cage with his hammer. The glass begins to crack, but the cage holds. I laugh, mostly from joy but also from relief.

I begin to walk towards the control panel. "The humans think us immortal. Shall we test that?" I ask him.

"What have you done to the girl?"

I turn. I had moved her out of the way before Thor came barreling in here. She was laying at my feet, still asleep.

"Don't worry brother. She is not dead. Yet."

He looks at her in horror. "If you so much as touched her, I swear-"

"Relax. I have only cast a sleeping spell on her. She was tiresome, non-stop talking, I simply did it for silence," I lie smoothly.

I turn back to the control panel and am about to push the button that would drop Thor back to Earth when I suddenly hear someone say, "Move away please."

It is one of the agents, wielding a rather impressive looking gun. Hesitant, I back up.

"Do you like this?" He asks about his weapon, as we both took several steps closer to each other. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?" He begins to fire it up.

"_Foolish mortal," _I think to myself. Did he really believe I would allow myself to be captured so easily? I approach him from behind, thrusting my spear through his chest. I hear the sound of him yelling. My second illusion disappears from in front of him.

"NO!" yells Thor slamming the cage.

The agent drops to the floor, still holding the gun, blood coming from his mouth and breathing heavily. I walk towards the control panel and lift the cover from the button. Thor glares at me as I open it, the gateway to his hopeful demise. He takes several steps back and looks down with worry. He looks back up at me. I smile before sending him tumbling through the sky.

I turn to take my leave, but pause when I hear a faint, "You're going to lose."

I turn around. It was the dying agent. "Am I?"

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered," I tell him. "Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?" I took several steps towards him.

"You lack conviction." He answers.

My face hardens. "I don't think I-"

The agent blasts me with the weapon and I am thrown back, through the walls, a flaming ball. I get up and leave. I cross the runway, to the awaiting airplane. We take off as soon as I enter. I smile.

* * *

_(Third Person POV)_

Fury enters and sees Agent Coulson on the ground. He kneels down by him.

"I'm sorry boss," Coulson apologizes. "They got rabbited.".

"Just stay awake. _Eyes on me_," Fury orders him.

"Oh I'm clockin' out here."

"_Not an option._"

"It's okay, boss. This was never gonna work- if they didn't have something- to-"

His breathing halts and Fury stands to let the medical team through. He leans against the railing. He turns his head and sees another body under the control panel. He rushes over. It was Natasha's mentee. He quickly checks for a pulse. Natasha had already lost Clint. He didn't want her to lose the kid she was so protective over.

"Medic! Come here. We got another one. She's alive but I want you to check her out. Make sure she's okay."

They put the intern on a stretcher and take her to the med bay.


	4. The Battle of New York: Part 1

Chapter 4

_(Tera's POV)_

I feel myself laying down on something soft. I don't remember going to sleep last night. Suddenly, the memories hit me. Thor being real, Natasha taking me to her interrogation, and _Loki. _I bolt up, but it's too fast, I become dizzy.

"Whoa there, кроли." Someone nearby says.

I feel a hand on my arm.

"You okay there kid?"

I recognize the first voice as Natasha's but the second…

"Clint?"

"In the flesh," he responds.

I'm no longer seeing stars. I look up to see Natasha, Clint, and a very battered Thor standing by my bed.

"Clint! You're okay!" I fling myself on him.

"Woah, there kid! I'm glad to see you too, but jeez, calm down. I'm still recovering here."

"Sorry," I apologize sheepishly.

He shrugs and gives me a hug. "It's okay. You're worth it."

I pull away from his embrace. "So what happened? How's Clint back? Why does Thor look like he's been rolling it dirt?"

Thor gives a hearty laugh at my last statement.

"Loki believed he could rid of me by dropping me from his cage. But, he could not. Because I am mighty!" He proclaims, raising Mjolnir to the sky.

Nat sits on the bed next to me.

"I'm sorry Bunny."

"For what," I ask her, confused.

"I told you everything would be okay when I left you in Loki's room. I was stupid to think I could trust that trickster with you. I promised you I would come back for you, but I didn't. When Fury said he found you I-I was scared I had lost you."

I take her hand in mine. "It's not your fault Nat. We're dealing with the biggest threat we've ever had to face. We make mistakes. These things happen. And besides, I'm fine."

"She is right, Lady Romanoff. Loki only cast a sleeping spell on her. He did not harm her in any way."

At that moment, Steve enters the room. "Good, you're alright. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, it was just a sleeping spell."

"In that case, it's time to go."

"Go where?" Natasha asks.

"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?"

Clint speaks up, "I can."

Steve looks at Nat, who nods at him reassuringly.

"Got a suit?" Steve asks him.

"Yeah."

"Then suit up."

* * *

Steve, Clint, Nat, and I walk towards a quinjet. Nat and I had to convince Clint and Steve to let me join them.

"Come on, please? I've been training with Nat for the past few months!"

"She has. And besides, she knows a lot of Loki's powers and what he's capable of."

Steve sighs, "Alright, fine. But you're responsible for her Romanoff."

"I already am Rogers."

We cross the tarmac. Clint with his arrows, Steve with his shield, and Nat and I with our knives and guns. When we enter one of the jets, a S.H.I.E.L.D. engineer runs up to us.

"Hey, you guys aren't authorized to be in here."

"Son, just don't," Steve tells him with a look.

* * *

We fly towards Stark Tower in New York City. As we near, Nat radios Tony.

"Stark, we're on your three heading north east!"

"What, did you stop for a drive-thru? Swing that park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

Clint and Natasha are piloting the plane. They release the canon gun. Tony flies past us at high-speed with the Chitauri following close behind him. Clint and Natahsa begin to release continuous fire at the troop in front of us. They fly us through the smoke and up to Stark Tower. We circle around the building, blasting the army who are firing at them. One of the wings is grazed by Chitauri gunfire. We slow down as we come to the balcony of the tower. There, we find Thor busy, smashing Loki's head into glass on the catwalk of Stark Tower.

"Nat!" Clint says.

"I see 'em."

Loki turns to face the jet. He throws Thor to the ground, then blasts one of the jet's rotor blades with his scepter and it catches fire immediately. Thor gets up, and furiously charges at Loki and tackles him. That's the last I see of them as the quinjet falls to the ground.

Natasha and Barton hold on for their dear lives. Cap grabs a hold of the ceiling as I wrap my arms around his waist. The plane grazes against buildings. Steve's feet are lifted off the ground, I tighten my hold on him, scared to let go. Clint tries to maneuver the jet away from buildings and he's able to bring us, crashing, to the street. We slide several yards, before coming to an abrupt halt. Natasha and Barton remove their headsets, open the ramp, and we all run out the jet and towards the base of Tony's tower.

"We gotta get back up there," the captain tells us.

No one replies, we freeze in our tracks because high above the tower is the portal. And coming out of the portal...

"Oh my God," I say in horror.

A giant armored Leviathan, the warship of the Chitauri, and more fleets of warriors bleed into the sky.

We watch it fly past us as warriors jump onto the side of buildings and crash through the windows, gunfire following immediately after.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asks in disbelief.

"Seeing. Still working on believing," Tony answers through our earpiece. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve repeats.

"Just keep me posted," Tony says.

Clint, Natasha, and I crouch behind a taxi cab, our weapons drawn, preparing to fight. Steve runs over.

"We've got civilians trapped," Clint tells him.

The army flies past us and we see Loki with them on one of the flying crafts.

Steve growls. "Loki."

Loki and his following troops blow up the streets, laying waste to everything in their path. The police and civilians run for their lives as chaos rains down upon them.

"They're fish in a barrel down there!"

Nat turns towards me. "Are you ready? You can leave if you want. I won't judge."

"I will!" Clint calls as he runs toward the fight. I would have smacked him but he's already engaging in combat.

"No, no. I'm ready. I can do this," I tell her firmly.

She smiles, "Alright then intern, let's see what you can do in a real battle."

Natasha and I stand and we begin to fire our guns at an incoming group of Chitauri. We crouch down again as Clint bends behind an overturned taxi.

Nat turns to Steve. "We got this. It's good. Go!"

Steve looks at both of us. "Don't worry Steve, we can handle them," I say reassuringly.

"You think you can hold them off?"

"Captain," Clint says from his position, "it would be my genuine pleasure."

Clint reaches for an arrow, quickly nocks it, and shoots, hitting one alien in the head, while the arrow quickly separates into more arrows, killing three more Chitauri. Natasha and I stand and we quickly resume our fire. Steve jumps off an overpass, rolling onto a bus and into the street.

Clint helps people off a nearby bus as Natasha and I shoot our pistols at Chitauri. He runs over to us and rapidly sets off a barrage of arrows, raining down on the enemy as we continue reloading and shooting.

"Just like Budapest all over again!"

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint replies.

"What happened in Budapest?" I ask. I thought I heard all of their stories, but I guess not.

"I'll tell you later!" Nat yells.

"Maybe I should tell her! We have different views on the story."

"I don't care WHO tells me, I just want the story," I bellow over the gunfire.

We soon engage in hand to hand combat with the invaders. Clint trips one with his bow. He pulls an arrow from his sheath and stabs it. I see Natasha use her Widow's Bite on a warrior as she sits on his neck. I use my knives to stab their heart and slice their arms and legs off. Clint is tackled by an alien, I run to help him, decapitating the beast. Natasha picks up a Chitauri weapon and uses it to fight off the warriors. One warrior tries to slice her head off and she slides, dodging it. She spins down onto one knee before shooting at one of the aliens charging towards me. He flies backwards. She continues to hack them away from us, defending my back while I watch hers. Clint runs towards us, slides, then fires more arrows at the growing number of enemies. Our circle becomes smaller and smaller, the three of us being forced closer together. I begin to accept my fate. This is how I'm going to die. By the hands of a monster, no thanks to a certain god of Mischief. We nearly have our backs pressed together, when Steve jumps into our fight to help. He slams the Chitauri away with his shield and suddenly we are able to expand our circle a little more.

"So lovely of you to join us," I tell him.

"Hey, someone's gotta rescue the civilians, right?"

"Hey! I saved some too, you know!" Clint wines.

I suddenly see a beast taking aim at me with one of his weapons, preparing to fire, but before I am able to fire at him, he and the surrounding aliens are struck by lightning. They are brought to their knees, dead. Thor drops down from the sky, landing beside us.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asks him

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

We hear Tony in our earpiece, "Thor is right, we gotta deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" asks Nat.

Steve looks up to see more Chitauri fly by. "As a team."

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor tells us.

Clint is readying some arrows when he says, "Oh yeah? Get in line."

"Save it," Steve tells him. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things can run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us to…"

He trails off at the sound of an engine sputtering towards us. We look to see Dr. Banner riding an old fashioned motorcycle. He dismounts, and walks toward us as we gather around him.

"So, this all seems... horrible," he says, surveying the damage.

"I've seen worse," Nat tells him.

"Sorry."

"No, we can use a little worse."

Steve reports to Tony, "Stark, we got him."

We hear Tony ask, "Banner?"

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

Tony flies around a corner and towards us, followed closely by one of the huge Leviathans.

My eyes widen in horror, while Clint and Steve look on calmly. Thor growls and tightens his grip on Mjolnir.

Nat stutters, "I-I don't see how that's a party."

"Maybe it will blow up into confetti?" I ask softly.

Tony draws the monster low to the ground and it skims the road. Dr. Banner turns towards it and begins to walk straight for the Leviathan.

Steve follows him. "Dr. Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Cap." The doctor responds, looking back at Steve. "I'm always angry."

As he turns back around to face the oncoming alien, green suddenly sprouts through his skin and he grows in size, ripping his clothes to shreds. He immediately punches the Leviathan, smashing its face into the ground, but its body begins to roll over its head, coming to crash down on us.

"Hold on!" Tony yells.

He blasts a small missile at the creature when it's armor falls off. The missile explodes as it finds its target. An inferno blasts from the monster, flames and debris engulf us. Clint grabs my hand and we sprint away like mad, ducking in an alley. Thor just stands there taking the blast, while Steve grabs Nat and protects them with his shield. The heat scorches us, the surrounding cars melting from the intense heat. I can hear the cries of the Chitauri as the monster crashes and burns. Clint pokes his head out from the alley, checking to see if we can emerge safely. He takes my hand and we regroup in a circle. The Hulk roars, Clint nocks an arrow, Thor readies Mjolnir, Nat and I reload our guns, Steve stands ready with his shield and Tony hovers above us, next to the Hulk.

We look up, only to be greeted by more Leviathans and hundreds of warriors flying through the portal.

"Guys?" Nat and I say together.

"Call it, Captain." Tony tells him.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

Clint turns to Tony. "Wanna give me a lift?"

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas."

Tony grabs Clint and flies him up to the top of a building, then flies off.

_Legolas, huh? Gotta make fun of Clint for that later._ I smirk.

Steve turns to Thor, "Thor! You gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow 'em down. You got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Thor spins Mjolnir around, and takes off into the sky.

Steve turns to face Nat and I. "The three of us, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here." He then turns to face the green machine behind us. "And Hulk!

The Hulk growls, turning around to face Cap, who points towards the incoming Leviathans.

"Smash!"

Hulk grins, then leaps off, taking out dozens of warriors that are on the sides of the buildings—grabbing, smashing, and throwing them.

Natasha and I stand side by side, fighting the monsters together.

"How am I doing boss?"

"Not bad intern," she answers with a smile.

She is suddenly thrown upon the hood of a car. I run towards her to help as I notice the warrior about to attack her, but before I can, a Chitauri comes out of nowhere and tries to slice at my neck. I bend, sliding past him, but his blade makes contact with my forehead. I quickly come up behind him and sink my knives into his back.

I turn to see Nat wrestling the Chitauri gun from its grasp and shooting him back. Steve lands behind her, and she twists around with the gun ready, about to shoot, until she realizes who it is. She lowers the gun and leans against a car, blood dripping from her head and lip. Blood oozes from my head wound and I lift a hand to wipe away the blood because it starts to obscure my vision. I poke at the gash, just above my right eyebrow. It's not deep, but it's long, at least three inches.

"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." Nat tells Steve.

I giggle. They turn to look at me, shocked at how I found this funny.

"Yeah Cap." I repeat. "Not a dam thing."

Nat just rolls her eyes at me. She's heard me use that joke so many times now.

Steve looks confused, but decides to ignore my statement. "Our biggest guns can't touch it."

"Well, maybe it's not about guns," Nat states, looking at the portal.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

Natasha glances up, watching the Chitauri crafts fly past. She makes her way over to the other side of the overpass.

"I got a ride. I can use a boost though."

A look of understanding crosses his face, "You sure about this?" He asks readying his shield in front of him.

I quickly move out of the way.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun!" She says without excitement.

Nat runs at Steve, who uses his shield to boost her up. She grabs on to a passing Chitauri vehicle. We look up as she flies off in the distance.

We get hit by a blast from our right, but Steve raises his shield to protect us. We turn to see more warriors coming, inching towards us, carrying their blasters.

"C'mon kid. Let's kick some butt."


	5. The Battle of New York: Part 2

_(Tera's POV)_

I nod at him and we soon re-engage in battle. Steve uses his shield, while I pick up the blaster Nat dropped earlier. I begin firing and slicing away. Tony soon comes to join us. Steve lifts his shield and Tony reflects a repulsor blast off the shield, taking out the surrounding warriors. I jump out of the way, crouching behind an overturned car. Tony then flies up the side of a building, hitting more warriors as he gains altitude.

We continue fighting. I see Chitauri falling out of the sky seemingly for no reason, but I know Clint is up on some rooftop, firing at them.

I'm soon cornered by two aliens. I blast the first one, but before I can face the second, he has me in a headlock. I lose the blaster when he grabs me, I'm out of ammo for my pistol, and I can't reach my knives.

"STEVE!" I scream for the Captain, but it's no use. He's on the ground, holding off a Chitauri trying to impale him. I feel the grip on my neck tighten.

"Steve!" I barely manage.

"Hold on kid!" He pushes the warrior off and onto sharp debris. He picks a blaster, but before he can shoot, a green light hits the warrior in the face. I feel his grip loosen and he falls to the floor in a crumpled heap. I fall to my knees, holding my throat, coughing, trying to catch my breath. Steve and I both look up, trying to locate where the light came from, but all we see is the Chitauri army flying through the sky.

We suddenly hear Clint's voice through the earpiece. "Captain, the bank on 42nd, past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there."

"We're on it."

We jog towards the location Clint gave us.

When we reach the bank, Steve jumps through a window and begins to fight as I follow suit. He snaps the neck of one and throws him into the pit.

"Everyone clear out!" Steve orders.

I jump the balcony and land in the pit with the hostages.

"Everyone follow me!"

I lead the way to the doors only to find them blocked by an alien. They're really starting to tire me.

"Get down!" I yell as he begins shooting. I run towards him, with my knives drawn, dodging his blasts. When I'm close enough, I roll between his legs and stand up behind him. As soon as he turns around to face me, I slice my knives across his throat. He falls to my feet and I wipe the blood off my blades. I push the doors open to let everyone out.

"C'mon! Quickly! We don't have time!"

People run past me. As soon as everyone leaves, I go looking for Steve. He's standing next to a car that has a suspicious looking dent in it.

"Hey Cap, your mask is gone."

"That's ok," he says out of breath.

We join up with Thor and resume our battle. We hear Natasha saying that she can shut the portal down.

"Do it!" Steve answers her.

"No, wait."Tony commands.

Steve replies, "Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip."

"No Tony! You won't make it!" I yell at him. But he doesn't respond.

He flies over us, holding on to the missile. Tony redirects the missile, barely missing his tower, and pushes it up towards the portal. We watch on with fear and anticipation. He disappears inside the portal, still carrying the missile. We hold our breath. There's nothing. Then out of nowhere, the Chitauri warriors begin to collapse, and the Leviathans fall from the sky, crashing into buildings. Thor, Steve, and I look around as they rain down on us. I look back up at the portal, waiting to see Tony come flying out.

I hear Nat whisper, "Come on, Stark."

"Close it." Steve tells her.

I grab his arm. "But Tony! He's still in there!"

I receive a solemn look in return.

We look back up to see the portal shrinking rapidly. We watch, knowing that Tony won't make it out. I suddenly feel a hollow sense of loss. Sure, I barely know him, but I feel like I just lost someone important to me. He sacrificed himself for us. None of us were supposed to _die_ in this mission.

A split second before the portal closes, we see something plunging to the ground. A red and gold deadweight.

Steve smiles. "Son of a gun!"

I laugh with joy, "He made it!" I say, hugging Steve.

"He's not slowing down." Thor calls out to us.

He prepares to fly at Tony when the Hulk grabs him out of the air, slides down the side of a building and crashes to the ground in front of us.

Hulk throws Tony off him and we run over. Thor pulls off the faceplate and Steve listens for a heartbeat, we look at each other when we notice the arc reactor isn't glowing.

"Tony," I whisper, turning and burying my face in Thor's chest. I can't look at him. I sob quietly and Thor holds me tighter. Suddenly the Hulk roars and beats his chest. I hear a shocked gasp and turn around to see Tony open his eyes. He looks around, shaken.

"What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

I laugh, wiping my tear-stained cheek.

"We won," Steve tells him, relieved.

"Alright, hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor remarks, looking up at Stark Tower.

"And then shawarma after?" Tony asks him, hopeful.

We sit him up and quickly make our way to Stark Tower.

As we make our way towards the stairs, Tony cries out, "No, no, no, no," We turn to look at him. "We just fought off several hundred monsters, we're all bleeding and in pain. We're taking my personal elevator. C'mon."

We follow him to a set of doors, you wouldn't even know that they were there. Maybe because Tony hid them behind a painting of himself. I roll my eyes.

"I saw that kid!"

I grin at him sheepishly.

We make our way up to the penthouse and we find Nat and Clint already waiting for us.

"Nice staff," I tell her.

"Nice gash," she responds before pulling me into a tight hug.

"We did it Nat. We won."

"Not yet."

We all turn to face Loki. He crawls over to a stair and turns to see us surrounding him. Clint with an arrow drawn and aimed at him, Natasha holding his scepter. He flinches slightly when he sees the Hulk growling at him. His eyes land on me. I see a flash of dismay cross his face, but it's gone as fast as it came. He's probably disappointed I didn't die.

"If it's all the same to you," he says breathlessly to Tony, "I'll have that drink now."

I try to hold my smile and I can see Tony with an amused look on his face. Thor grabs him and places cuffs on his wrists.

"Let's go," he growls at Loki.

We enter Tony's elevator after telling Hulk he had to use the stairs. He punches the doors in anger when they close, but we already begin our descent.

* * *

The Avengers, Dr. Selvig, and I walk to the center of a footbridge in Central Park. Tony is carrying a briefcase, Thor has Loki in a muzzle and handcuffs. Clint, Nat, a de-Hulkified Dr. Banner, and I walk from our cars. Steve joins us from his motorcycle.

Dr. Selvig takes a glass cylinder out of a truck. Tony opens his case, which is on the ground. Dr. Banner holds the Cube with some tongs and puts it into the glass cylinder Dr. Selvig has. Thor gives a nod to Steve, Tony, Clint and Dr. Banner. He takes Nat's hand and kisses it. He turns to me and pulls me into a hug.

"I have enjoyed fighting with you." He tells me. "You are a brave warrior for such a small child."

I smile at him. I decide to let it slide this time.

"It was an honor to fight by your side," I say.

He gives my shoulder a squeeze and smiles as he turns to shake hands and say goodbye to Dr. Selvig. I walk back towards Nat and Clint. Clint is currently staring Loki down. As Loki looks at Natasha, she whispers something into Clint's ear that makes him smile. Loki looks away from her and starts looking at me instead. I stare back, but he keeps looking. Feeling uncomfortable at his stare, I feel myself blushing again. I detect a smile from under that muzzle. I quickly turn away to find something else to look at. I see Thor holding the cylinder that has the Tesseract in it. He gestures it to Loki, who grabs one end of the cylinder and Thor has the other. He nods to us and twists the device, which lights up. We watch the two brothers vanish into the sky. As we turn to leave, I see Tony and Steve shake hands. Nat takes a duffel bag out of the backseat of a S.H.I.E.L.D. car. She hands it to Bruce as Clint heads to the driver's seat. I realize I don't have a way back home. Steve wants to travel, Bruce is moving in with Tony, and who knows where Clint and Nat are going. This isn't the first time she's left me - I'm used to her disappearing for days on end and then suddenly showing up again. But this time, I'm not on the helicarrier. I walk to Nat to ask her if she can somehow tell Fury to come pick me up, but she's busy rummaging in the trunk of the car with Clint. Steve left already, so I turn to Tony. He's sitting in his car, with Bruce next to him.

"Hey Mr. Stark, I uh, I was wondering if I can ask for a favor? Do you- do you think you can ask Fury to pick me up? I don't really have any way of contacting him, and I kinda wanna go home."

He lowers his sunglasses at me and raises an eyebrow.

"You don't have to," I quickly say, realizing that I might've annoyed him. After all, who would WANT to actually call Fury. "It's okay, I'll just, um, I'll-"

"Wait."

I shut my mouth.

"You're telling me that the helicarrier is your home? You actually live there?"

I nod.

"What about your family? I thought you live with them?"

I clear my throat. "No sir… I don't have a family. I've been living on the helicarrier since I was 16."

There is a long pause.

"Get in."

"What?"

"Get in. You're coming to live with Bruce, Pepper and I."

I take a step back. "Oh, no Mr. Stark. I - I can't do that. I don't want to be a bother."

He rolls his eyes, steps out of his car, and opens the back door.

"Get your butt in before I push you in."

But I still don't.

He walks to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "You won't be a bother. Have you seen my building? And besides, Bruce is coming to live with me, and you know how he gets when he's mad."

"Hey!"

I laugh.

"Just c'mon kid. I don't want you living in that flying hunk of metal your whole life. You're still a kid, for crying out loud! You shouldn't be up there all the time. Plus, you don't really have a choice. Everyone left."

I turn around. Sure enough, Nat, Clint, and Steve are gone.

I turn back to face Tony.

"Okay," I answer quietly.

"Good, now c'mon. Let's go home."

We both get in his car, he turns the ignition, and he drives to Stark Tower.


	6. Mission

_(Tera's POV)_

Three months have passed by. Tony and Pepper rebuilt Stark Tower from the inside. Tony made sure that every Avenger has their own floor if they ever happen to stay over—Nat and Clint already rearranged their rooms to suit their style. They had come back about a week after they had vanished. Everything is back to normal after Loki's attempted invasion failed. I still have a light mark from where I was cut on my forehead, other than that, everything is great. Tony designed my room, but unlike Clint and Nat, I kept the original layout and decor. I don't really have that many possessions to decorate with. When Fury had dropped off a backpack that contained all my stuff, Tony freaked.

"_Hey! Where's this bag from kid? It has your name on it."_

_I walk over to where Tony is standing. There is a backpack next to the elevator and sure enough, my name is on it. I pick it up and unzip it._

"_Oh! This is my stuff. Fury must've finally had time to clear out my room on the ship," I tell Tony._

_He looks at the bag, then at me, then back down to the bag._

"_So-o-o, when is he going to bring the rest of your stuff over?"_

"_This is all my stuff Tony," I laugh while shaking my head._

_He takes the bag from my hands._

"_Hey!"_

_He starts to ruffle around inside._

"_Wait, wait. So you're telling me all you own is three shirts and two pairs of pants?!"_

"_Not true!" I retaliate._

"_Oh excuse me, so rude of me to forget about your toiletries," he says sarcastically._

"_Yeah, so?" I rip my belongings out of his grasp._

"_Okay. JARVIS."_

"_Yes, Mr. Stark?"_

"_Remind me to ask Ms. Potts to take the kid shopping later."_

"_Yes, sir."_

"_Tony! You really don't need to do that! I'm absolutely fine with what I have!"_

"_Look kid. You might be okay living like this, but I'm not. You are a _teenager_! You should have more shoes that you can count! Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, sweaters, dresses, pajamas!. Not some S.H.I.E.L.D. authorized uniforms! And I'm not going to keep arguing with you about this! End of discussion."_

_I huff in frustration. "Fine."_

* * *

I look into my huge walk-in closet that Tony had built for me. I've been able to fill a rack after Ms. Potts had taken me shopping. I honestly didn't mind having a few items. I've lived so long with so little, that I'm used to not owning as many things as most girls my age would.

I quickly change into some workout clothes we bought and head down to the training room. Nat is already down there meditating, and I join her. We sit there for about ten minutes before we start to stretch.

"You ready to continue your training?" she asks me.

I nod at her enthusiastically. She had begun to train me in karate before Loki came to Earth.

"Okay, so I decided that today, we are going to start incorporating weapons into your techniques."

She walks to the cabinet where we store all our practice weapons, and pulls out a staff that's roughly her height. She reaches in again and pulls out another one that is smaller by several inches and hands it to me.

"Now, when you work with a staff, you need one about your height. That makes it easier to work with. And since you're so short, you get the smallest staff."

"Hey! Just because I'm five inches shorter than you does NOT mean I'm short!"

It's the whole "kid" fiasco all over again.

Nat just laughs. "Yeah, because being 5'2" isn't short at all. Not in the slightest."

"Whatever. Can we just start already?"

"Okay, first, we'll begin with learning how to do a basic spin."

She begins spinning her staff with both her hands, then switching between hands. I begin to bounce on my heels. I can't wait; it looks so cool. When she's done showing off, she stands in front of me.

"Now the first thing you want to do is place your left foot in front of you and extend your left hand while holding your staff. Make sure your hand is in the middle of the staff. Good. Next place your right hand on your chest, just to move it out of your way, for the time being."

I complied.

"Okay now follow what I do."

She begins to turn the staff in front of her, then bringing it towards her back.

"See how I'm leading the staff with my thumb? It's directing the staff where I want it to go."

We practice that move for a few minutes before turning to use our right hand. After we do that, it starts to get a little tricky. Nat tells me to reverse the way I am turning my staff, so that I start with my palm downward instead of up. It takes me several tries and a few hits to my arm before I finally catch on.

"Not bad. Now let's try incorporating both hands."

I watch Nat do it first before I can give myself anymore bruises. She starts slowly, with her left hand, turning the staff in front of her. When she reaches the right side of her body, she places her right hand behind her left, and turns it back towards the left side of her. She starts speeding up and taking steps as she twirls her staff. It's a beautifully deadly sight. I start mimicking her movement and soon we were side by side, furiously spinning our staffs in front of us, dancing around each other. Lethal, dangerous, a force to be reckoned with. And I love it.

After practicing for a few hours, I went upstairs to take a shower. Tony had built an en suite in everyone's rooms. At first, I thought it was a bit much, but I had admittedly grown to love it. When I finish showering and changing into regular clothes, I head to the kitchen for food. I take out some ice cream, milk, and frozen strawberries and dump them into a blender. Nat walks in when I'm adding the bananas.

"Mmmm. Make me a cup too."

"I don't know if I should," I respond teasingly. "Afterall, I seem to recall a certain redhead making fun of my height."

"Please кроли!" she pouts.

"Okay, fine, fine."

I blend the smoothie together and pour us each a cup.

We're making small talk, when her phone buzzes. She picks it up and reads the message. She smiles and looks at me.

"What's up Nat?"

"Clint and I have another mission tonight."

"Another one?" I ask nonchalantly, trying to not sound whiny. _You just came back from one two days ago! _I think to myself.

She must've seen the disappointment on my face, however, because she says, "Don't worry, it's only for tonight."

"Good. Otherwise I would have had to practice spinning a staff with Tony."

Nat laughs at that. When we finish our smoothies, Nat leaves to look for Clint to fill him in on the mission they received. I head out on my own, roaming the tower. I _could _join Tony and Bruce in the lab, since I've been acting as peacemaker since we first settled in. Tony gets a kick out of trying to get Bruce to hulk out. We haven't had an accident yet, but with Tony around, who knows when Bruce will reach the end of his tether. But I just don't want to deal with that headache right now. After Tony had finished rebuilding the tower, and whenever Clint and Nat are gone, I go exploring. It's unbelievable how many rooms the tower has. Lately I stopped exploring because I found a library. It's magnificent. Rows of shelves, stacked with books. The room is curved, so that you can't see the other end of the room when you enter, just books. There's also a mini kitchen, several sofas and armchairs, and a huge fireplace. I go to my favorite sofa and grab the book I've been reading.

I read for several hours before I hear JARVIS speak to me.

"Miss Tera, Miss Romanoff has asked me to inform you that she is looking for you. She is currently in your room."

"Okay, thanks JARVIS."

I jog to the elevator and head up to mine and Nat's floor. I enter my room to see Nat wearing a black cocktail dress with red accents and black heels. Clint is there too and wearing a suit.

"Hey Nat. JARVIS said you were looking for me?"

"Yeah, why aren't you dressed yet?!"

"For what?"

"Oh shoot, did I forget to tell you? You're coming with us on our mission."

"Really? Seriously?"

"Yeah, c'mon, get ready. Here's your dress," she says, gesturing to my bed.

I take one look at it.

"Wait, what is it that I'll be doing exactly?" I ask anxiously.

Clint answers, "Don't worry, you're backup. Which means you get to sit with me and let Nat do everything."

"Well if I'm just backup, why do I need this dress?"

"Cause we're going to a party," Nat tells me.

Nat has to force me out of my hoodie and jeans and into the dress. She threatened to make me workout with Tony. I changed real fast when she said that. When I finish, I slip into the heels that Nat set aside for me. Clint then sat me down in front of my mirror and did my makeup while Nat worked on my hair.

I'm glad when we went to the garage no one saw me in my dress. I manage to avoid everyone. Except for Nat and Clint of course. Now don't get me wrong. I like the dress. I really like it, in fact. But I struggle with accepting my appearance, not to mention self-esteem. I don't like anything about any of my features, my insecurities always consume my every waking minute. And this dress is a little revealing. I feel exposed in the lace sleeves, knee length skirt, and low neckline. Plus with the black and gold heels? It's a nice outfit, just not for me.

As we drive to the hotel, where the party is at, I admire my smokey makeup look Clint did. I never would have guessed that a skilled archer would know how to work with makeup.

"So what are we dealing with Nat?"

She turns to face me from the front. Next to her, driving, is Clint.

"We're dealing with a major illegal arms dealer named James Foyer. He's made millions selling illegal weapons to the worst kind of people imaginable."

"I'm guessing you're gonna flirt with him to get him to tell you who his buyers are?"

She winks. "Exactly."

I run my hands through my long, brunette hair. "So what's he celebrating?"

"I don't think he needs a reason to celebrate. Just wants to show the world he's got money—and _lots_ of it," Clint says.

A few minutes later, we pull up in front of a huge hotel. We step out of the Ferrari and Clint gives the keys to the valet.

"Not a scratch."

Nat and I hold on to Clint's arm, on either side of him.

"Earpieces in?"

"Check," we tell him.

"Alright then Nat, off you go."

She slips away from us and heads through the crowd, keeping an eye out for our target. Clint heads toward the stairs, and I make my way to the back of the party, smiling, keeping watch.

"Target located Nat. He's coming out of the elevator."

Of course Clint would see him first, looking for his prey from above.

"Heading that way now," Nat reports back.

I turn towards the elevator, where a tall, skinny, dark haired man is exiting. He has a cigar dangling from his lips and is wearing an expensive looking suit. As soon as he steps out of the elevator, hordes of women try to come near him, to touch him, to claim him as their own. He gives each of them attention, but he grows bored of them and moves on to the next set of breasts he saw.

"Disgusting," I want to look away, but I can't. I'm Nat's backup. If something happens to her, I have to jump in and take her spot. I see James' eyes latch on to Nat and her body. I shake my head. No decent man can look at Nat without looking down every few seconds. But she takes it, she starts chatting with him, laughing flirtatiously, placing her hand on his arm. It seems to be working. I figure Nat would get him to crack in the next ten minutes. I start to notice something wrong. Foyer is getting bored of her. I've never seen a man become bored so quickly when Natasha Romanoff is around. He begins scanning the crowd, looking for another female to interest him, when his eyes land on me. I'm about to bolt out of the hotel, when I hear Clint.

"Wait! Stay there. Nat's losing him, so you might have to go in. Act interested in him."

I do as Clint says and flash a smile at Foyer. He immediately begins to make his way towards me.

Through my clenched smile, I tell Clint, "I don't think I can do this! Nat hasn't trained me in this yet."

"Don't worry Tera, you can do this. Just make him think you're into him. Flirt. Laugh. Play dumb."

"But Clint-"

"This is my sister Savannah. Savannah, this is Mr. James Foyer."

"There you are Cleo!" I say to Nat. "I've been looking for you!" I turn to face the man. "It's lovely to meet you Mr. Foyer."

I extend my hand to shake, but he takes it and brings it to his lips.

"Please, call me James."

I smile back at him, trying to restrain my look of disgust.

"Cleo, why didn't you tell me your sister is a doll?"

Nat laughs and says, "You think every new girl you meet is a doll."

I find myself very relieved that Nat and I came up with fake names for each other.I suddenly notice Nat tapping her thigh. It isn't out of nervousness, rather, it's a code—Morse code.

_Not me, he wants you._

I groan internally after I decode her message. Of course the only person to ever find me attractive is a sleazeball.

_Okay. _I tap back. I have to do this, this is why I'm here, for backup. Also because I don't think Clint would be able to seduce Foyer.

At my response, Nat makes up an excuse to leave, leaving me with Foyer.

"I don't believe you two are sisters," he says evenly.

I raise an eyebrow. _KEEP CALM!_

"Really?"

He takes a step closer to me and takes my face in his hand. It takes all I have to not bite his hand.

"No. You're much better to look at," he says, eyes darting towards my body, lingering in places that make me want to put him in a chokehold.

_DON'T SLAP HIM, DO NOT SLAP HIM! THINK OF THE MISSION! THINK. OF. THE. MISSION._

"You're not like other girls," he continues.

"How so?" I ask, in what I hope is a seductive voice, batting my lashes at him.

He drops his hand and chuckles. "As soon as I entered the room, they all threw themselves at me. You didn't. I like women who play hard to get." He suddenly grabs my waist and brings me close to him, now whispering in my ear. "Cause once I get them, they taste the sweetest," I feel him place a soft kiss on my neck, lingering before pulling away.

I see Clint aiming his gun from the balcony and Nat pulling out her knives. They hear what he said and see what he did. I place my arms around Foyer's neck, making a shooing motion with my hand to tell them to stand down. I smile at the man in front of me, an idea forming.

"If we taste the sweetest, what do you taste like?"

He smiles an even larger one and leans forward, attempting to kiss me. I put a finger to his lips and a hand to his chest, holding him back. I might have to seduce him, but I refuse to let my first kiss be with this sexist.

"Why don't we go somewhere a little more private?" I whisper, trailing my fingers down his chest, stopping at his belt.

He takes my hand and heads towards the elevator. He pushes the button for the third floor and as soon as the doors close, he tries kissing me again and again I place a finger to his lips.

"I don't give kisses very easily, so if you want one, you must do as I say. Understand?"

He places both his hands on my waist. Never have I felt so violated in my life, but I hold back all my anger and emotions.

I can't back out of his iron-like grasp. He bends over to whisper into my ear again. "But you taste divine babe." He places his lips at the base of my neck and I begin to feel him trail his tongue upward towards my jaw.

"So good," I hear him whisper, before he catches my earlobe between his teeth, tugging gently.

Correction. NOW I have never been more violated. I grab his tie. I momentarily think about how if I choked him here and now, no one would know. Unfortunately though, we need that information from him, otherwise I would have to explain to Fury why the only man that can give us the information is dead. I quickly begin to care less about the mission and more about my own dignity, but before I can tighten the tie and choke the life out of him, the doors open to the third floor. Foyer removes his lips from my skin, takes my hand and leads me to his door. I look at the number, memorizing it for later. Foyer opens the door and pulls me inside. He tries kissing me a third time and again I stop him with a finger.

"You had your fun in the elevator," I tell him. "Now it's my turn."

He bits his lower lip and I see the lust in his eye, and thankfully, he doesn't argue.

_Thank god!_

I push him into a chair by the dresser, and I reach inside my clutch that I brought with me and pull out a pair of handcuffs.

I dangle them in front of him.

"You brought cuffs with you?" he asks, unbuttoning his shirt.

I wink, "I thought I might get lucky tonight. Turns out I did."

I cuff his hands and attach them to the chair, so not only is he cuffed, he also can't walk around without the chair dragging with him.

I take his tie off.

"Open."

He opens his mouth immediately and I tie the cloth around his mouth forming a gag.

"Good. Now you wait here, and I'll be back with a surprise for you." I whisper in his ear, with a hand on his chest. I turn and head into the bathroom. I wink at him before closing the door.

I whip out my phone and text Nat.

_Nat I got him. He's cuffed and gagged._

_Hurry, call Fury quick._

_I only have a few minutes before he gets suspicious._

Where are you?

_Third floor._

_Room 394_

_This isn't a joke. Please hurry._

There's no response and it's quiet for two minutes before I hear a loud thud. Probably Fury. I hear someone loading a gun.

"Where is she!?"

I walk out of the bathroom.

"Hey sis," I say.

I see Clint holding a loaded gun pointed at Foyer's head, Nat with her widow's bite charged up and ready to pounce, and the door laying on the ground. Yup. It was Fury.

"Alright boys, tie him up. Nice work you three. You're done for the night, go and head on home."

"Thanks, Director."

"Don't forget to turn your report into me. Otherwise I'll put you on desk duty."

"Yes sir," we all say.

We turn to leave but I think of something

I walk back to Foyer. "Did you like my surprise?"

He glares.

I feign shock. "You didn't?! Well I have some advice for you. Never touch a lady without her consent, otherwise they'll bring hell down on you." I smile and walk out of the room with Nat and Clint by my side.

As we walk through the lobby, S.H.I.E.L.D agents run past us, up the stairs and into the elevator.

"You did amazing Tera. I'm so proud of you!"

I smile at the praise. "Thanks Nat." I pause before asking, "Do you have any wipes? I feel contaminated."

She smiles at me. "I always have some during my missions. They're in the car. C'mon."

When we walk out of the hotel, our Ferrari is parked right up front. We get in and Clint takes off, back towards Stark Tower.

"Here you go."

Nat passes me a pack of wet wipes. I immediately pull out three and begin scrubbing my hands and neck. I start telling them exactly what happened, not leaving out a single detail. I'm telling them how I was able to gag and cuff him, when Nat gets a call on her phone. She answers and puts it on speaker.

"Hey Tony. What's up?"

"Sorry Nat, I know you guys are on your mission, but something came up."

"Don't worry, we finished. We're on our way home right now."

"Good, because I need you three here now."

"Is that Lady Nat?" We hear a voice ask in the background. "I wish to speak with her as well!"

The three of us look at each other.

"Tony?" I ask. "Is that Thor?"

"Lady Tera! You are in this device as well? Splendid!"

"No, wait Thor! That button hangs-"

The line goes dead. I laugh at the thought of Thor and Tony wrestling with the phone.

"I wonder why Thor is back?" Clint wonders aloud.

We drive into the garage of the tower and head towards the elevator.

"At least we have another member on the team," I say as we head up.


	7. Ashamed

_(Tera's POV)_

When we reach the top floor, we walk out of the elevator to see Bruce trying to show Thor how to use a phone, with Steve watching over. He's still a little shaky when it comes to modern technology.

"Finally!" Tony said, walking out of the kitchen with a glass in his hand. "You took forever."

I frown. "We literally just hung up with you Tony."

He just waves his glass at me, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey Point Break, the rest of the team is here."

Thor looks up at us. He grabs Clint in a powerful hug and kisses Nat's hand. He turns to me.

"Hi Thor!"

"Lady Tera! I have missed you a great deal!"

He pulls me into a hug and spins me around. I laugh, holding onto him tightly.

"Okay you two. Put her down before you destroy my building Thor."

He places me back on my feet.

"So what brought you back to Earth, Thor?" Bruce asks.

Thor turns to face the rest of the group.

"Well, as you know, the Allfather banished me to Midgard several years ago as a punishment for my actions."

I nod. Coulson had told me this story.

"Well, the Allfather deemed it a suitable punishment for Loki. Making him live with those he tried to destroy."

Tony chokes on his drink. "You're telling me Reindeer Games is coming back to Earth?"

"No." Thor replies solemnly.

Tony sighes, "Hallelujah."

"He's already here!" Thor runs out of the room and out to the balcony.

Nat and I look at each other, then we all run after Thor.

I look around for Loki, but I only see Thor, crouching next to a struggling green and gold object.

I almost laugh. It's Loki, laying down trying to stand but unable to because Thor placed Mjolnir on his chest.

"Thor! Get your stupid, glorified hammer off me this instant."

Thor just laughs, but does what Loki asks him. He quickly stands and Thor takes off the cuffs restraining him. Loki brushes himself off while glaring at his brother.

Tony steps forward. "Thor, you can't be serious! You expect us to-to babysit a homicidal murderer?"

Thor clasped Tony's shoulder. "Not to worry Man of Iron. I will be here to watch him."

Tony frowns and walks back inside, annoyed.

"We don't have a room for him Thor," Steve reminds him.

"Not to worry Captain. He shall have Mjolnir's room."

"Mjolnir has a room?" I ask laughing.

"Yes, I asked Tony to build a room for Mjolnir when he was reconstructing his tower."

"Alright Thor, I don't think we can refuse this, so if Loki does anything, you're responsible," Steve tells him.

"Of course." Thor says, with a bow of his head.

"I'm standing right here you morons."

We all just look at Loki, before heading back inside.

"Come brother."

"I would rather stay out here Thor."

"Just leave him Thor," I say. "You come inside, I want to tell you guys about my mission tonight."

Thor smiles at me and we head back inside. Everyone sits around and I start telling them about what happened tonight. I left out parts when I told them what happened. Knowing Bruce, he would have hulked out and Thor would demand that Foyer must die. As I start telling them when Foyer left Nat to come to me, I notice a shadow standing near the doors of the balcony, listening in, but I pretend not to see.

It's nearly one in the morning when I finish, I started around midnight. I would have finished sooner, but Clint kept interjecting. Steve, Bruce, Clint, Tony start to make their way to their rooms as does Nat. I go to the fridge looking for something to eat. Thor goes outside to bring Loki inside.

I sit on the kitchen counter and take off my heels. I stay sitting there, eyes closed, letting the waves of excitement wash over me and drain out.

"Are you alright Lady Tera?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine Thor. Just relaxing."

"Alright then, I will see you in the morning. Goodnight!"

"Night Thor."

He walks down the hall to his room, with Loki by his side.

I hop off the counter and grab a cookie. I make my way back towards the couches, munching. The events of the night bothering me, I feel so dirty. I sit on the couch, closing my eyes, trying to forget what I allowed to happen with my body.

"Well, well. If it isn't the mortal child."

I open my eyes.

"I thought you went to bed."

"Please. I just needed the oaf to think that."

Loki steps out of the shadows.

"You look lovely."

"Thanks," I respond apprehensively.

He makes his way across the living room and sits at the other end of the couch.

He smirks. "I don't think however, you dressed this way for me."

I glare at him. "No I didn't. I don't dress to please anyone. And besides, I saw you standing there, listening to my story."

"That is correct. But I believe that I am not the only one to avoid the truth."

"What are you talking about? I didn't avoid anything."

He shakes his head. "I heard your thoughts. You felt it necessary to leave parts of your story out. I am no fool. You left out information from the others."

"So what if I did?"

"Nothing," he said airily. "I just want the full story."

I stand. "Why do you care what he did to me?"

"So he did do something then?" Loki asks, smirking.

I slowly sit back down. I hang my head, staring at the ground.

"Yes," I whisper. I don't want to admit it to anyone, not even to Nat, but I'm disgusted with myself. I had let Foyer touch me, have fun with my body. I feel sick with myself. I allowed all those things to happen.

I tense as Loki scoots closer to me, almost shoulder to shoulder.

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

I shake my head, but in my mind I scream. YES!

"Well which is it?"

I look at him, my eyes filling with tears. His face is full of despair. I look away.

"Okay. I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone," I plead.

"You have my word."

I take a deep breath and start.

"Well, when Nat left us, he took my face in his hands and started looking me over. I felt like a piece of meat displayed for him, to do as he pleased."

I see Loki clench his fist, his knuckles turning white.

"He started saying how I'm not like other girls," I continue. "He started saying that I didn't throw myself at him like all the other women did when he entered the room. He said I'm playing hard to get and that he likes that. Then he grabbed my waist and pulled me to him and whispered in my ear that women who are like that 'taste the sweetest'."

My voice catches when I try to continue. I clear my throat.

"Next thing I knew I felt him place a kiss on my neck. Clint and Nat were about to take him down, but I signaled for them to hold on. They heard what he said and did. But I continued. I wrapped my arms around Foyer's neck and asked him 'If we taste the sweetest, what do you taste like?' When I said that, he tried to kiss me but I stopped him."

I drop my voice down to a whisper. I'm scared to keep talking, scared someone would hear.

"I told him we should go somewhere private, so I can get him on my own and get the information from him. He took me by my hand and we went into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he tried kissing me again, but I stopped him again."

I try to cover the tears spilling down my cheeks.

"I told him if he wanted a kiss, he would have to do what I tell him to do. He then put both his hands on my waist. I tried to back away from him, but I couldn't. He bent over to whisper into my ear again. He told me I taste divine, and I felt him trail his tongue upward toward my jaw."

_So good_, I can hear Foyer whispering again.

I take a shaky breath before continuing.

"I couldn't take it anymore, so I made him think I would please him. I cuffed him to his chair and gagged him with his tie. Then I called Nat and Clint to come."

I look up at Loki when I finish. He looks absolutely furious, his jaw is clenched, his knuckles still white, green eyes flashing.

Something about his eyes nags me, but I'm not sure what it is.

He reaches his hand up, hesitantly, and wipes my tears.

I look at him in shock.

"It is not your fault Tera."

I shake my head. "Yes it is. I let him do that to me. I allowed it to happen. I gave up my dignity to him. He was enjoying himself, I knew it and yet I did nothing to stop him. I'm filthy, disgusting. I'm sick. I let this happen."

Loki takes my hands in his large, slender ones.

"Don't. Don't allow yourself to think of yourself in such a manner. You did what you needed to. This is not your fault. It will not make anyone think lower of you."

I give him a watery smile.

"Why don't you go to sleep? You need it."

I stand. "What about you?"

He waves his hand, standing as well. "I will find my way. It's not hard when your beacon is a snoring Thor."

I stand there, thinking if my next action will lead to my demise.

I throw my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. I realized how short I am when I'm next to him.

"Thanks for not degrading me. And for listening."

I grab my heels and run for the elevator to head up to my room. Before the doors close, I see Loki standing still, a shocked expression on his face.

I make my way into my room. I place my heels in my closet and head to my bathroom. I peel off the dress and take a quick shower. When I finish, I put on my Harry Potter pajamas and climb into bed. As I drift to sleep, I question whether or not it was a good idea to tell Loki what happened. He was sarcastic at first, but I think he was sincere when I told him what happened. But what about that hug? Why on earth would I think it was a good idea to do that?

_Just act like nothing happened_, I think. _Nobody needs to know. Hopefully he'll forget by morning._

And with that comforting thought, I drift off to sleep.


	8. Still Worthy

_(Loki's POV)_

I can not _believe_ Odin decided to banish me to Midgard. I do not belong with those savages! But I had to accept my fate; once Odin made a decision, no one could sway him, not even Mother. Heimdall opened the Bifrost for Thor and I and we entered. We step out on the balcony of Stark Tower. Before I can head inside, Thor shoves me to the ground and places his hammer on my chest. I cry out indignantly.

"I will be right back," he says, practically skipping through the doors.

I lay there, waiting. I can hear Stark speaking on his contacting device with Romanoff. I'm not listening to what they were saying. I'm fuming with the fact Thor felt it a necessity to restrain me. As if I had anywhere else to go. My magic is reduced. I still have some, but definitely not enough to create a portal to escape this miserable planet.

I hear Thor say something in excitement. I begin listening in.

"Lady Tera! You are in this device as well? Splendid!"

"No wait, Thor! That button hangs-"

At the mention of the girl's name I begin to think of the last time I was on Midgard. It was after Thor and his companions had closed my portal, and had surrounded me. The girl had a wound to her head, it was bleeding profusely. I was appalled at the fact that they had allowed her to engage in combat. She's too young and untrained. Everyone else is either a super warrior or a highly trained assassin. But they still allowed her to fight. Unbelievable. Then the day at the park, when Thor was taking me back to Asgard. I was glaring at Romanoff, when she turned to Barton, whispering something. His smile irked me so I looked away, catching her eyes. She stared back at me until she blushed. I smile at the effect I had on her.

I'm brought out of my thoughts when I hear her voice.

"‒just hung up with you Tony."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey Point Break, the rest of the team is here," I hear Stark telling her.

"Hi Thor!" I hear her telling him.

"Lady Tera! I have missed you a great deal!"

I hear her laughing at something. Even though I have Mjolnir on my chest, I am able to raise my head to see what is happening. I watch Thor spinning her around. Annoyed, I drop my head back down.

"Okay you two. Put her down before you destroy my building Thor."

I stop listening to what they were saying. Thinking about my brother and Tera. I wonder if he had feelings for her. She clearly enjoyed his presence. I quickly push the thought out of my head. Why should I care if he did?

I start listening again at the mention of my name.

"Making him live with those he tried to destroy."

I hear Stark coughing. "You're telling me Reindeer Games is coming back to Earth?"

"No." Thor replies solemnly.

Stark sighs, "Hallelujah."

"He's already here!"

The next thing I know, Thor is running towards me. I struggle, trying to get up before they can see me lying helplessly on the floor.

"Thor! Get your stupid, glorified hammer off me this instant!"

Thor laughs, as he removed the stupid thing off my chest. I stand and Thor removes the cuffs. I brush myself off, embarrassed they had seen me on the floor.

Stark steps forward. "Thor, you can't be serious! You expect us to- to babysit a homicidal murderer?"

I roll my eyes. Stark is so dramatic.

Thor clasped Stark's shoulder. "Not to worry Man of Iron. I will be here to watch over him."

Stark frowns and walks back inside, annoyed.

"We don't have a room for him Thor," Rogers reminds him.

"Not to worry Captain. He shall have Mjolnir's room."

"Mjolnir has a room?" I hear someone ask, laughing.

I'm too annoyed by my situation to realize that she is standing mere feet away. When I look at her, it takes everything in my power to hold my tongue.

She looks stunning. Her black dress fits her perfectly. Her makeup makes her eyes sparkle and stand out against the black. At the sound of her laugh, my heartbeat quickens. I realize I have been staring, and hoping no one has noticed, I quickly look away.

"Alright Thor, I don't think we can refuse this, so if Loki does anything, you are responsible," Steve tells him.

"Of course." My so-called-brother responds, with a bow of his head.

"I'm standing right here you morons," They have the audacity to speak of me in such a way when I am standing in front of them?

"Come brother."

I turn up my nose. "I would rather stay out here."

"Just leave him Thor," Tera tells my brother. "You come inside, I want to tell you guys about my mission tonight."

Thor smiles at her when she takes his hand and they re-enter the building. I hear Tera telling them about her night. I stand in the shadows, not wanting anyone to see me listening. I notice she hesitates several times and I hear her think about which parts she wants to leave out. She's worried about what her team would think.

It's an hour later when she's done recounting her story. The men and Romanoff say they are heading off to bed, while Tera walks towards the kitchen. I hear Thor saying he is going to come fetch me. I cast an illusion of myself, pacing the balcony and I turn myself into a raven, perched on the ledge.

He steps outside. "Come brother," he says to my illusion. "I will show you to your new room."

My illusion rolls his eyes at Thor, but follows dutifully.

"Are you alright Lady Tera?" I hear Thor ask her, when he is back inside.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine Thor. Just relaxing."

"Alright then, I will see you in the morning. Goodnight!"

"Night Thor."

He walks down the hall to his room, with my double by his side.

I turn back into my Asgardian form and step into the shadows again.

I watch Tera slide off the counter, making her way back to her couch, munching on a biscuit.

I step out of the shadows. "Well, well. If it isn't the mortal child."

She opens her eyes.

"I thought you went to bed."

"Please. I just needed the oaf to think that," I pause, a silence fills the air. "You look lovely," I tell her.

"Thanks," she sounds suspicious of me.

I make my way across the living room and sit at the other end of the couch.

I decide to mess with her. She seems to be the only one who is willing to speak with me, the others merely ignore my presence, which I greatly appreciate. I want nothing to do with these mortals.

I smirk. "I don't think however, you dressed this way for me."

She glares in response. "No I didn't. I don't dress to please anyone. And besides, I saw you standing there, listening to my story."

"That is correct. But I believe that I am not the only one to avoid the truth."

"What are you talking about? I didn't avoid anything."

I shake my head. Did she forget the powers I possess? "I heard your thoughts. You felt it is necessary to leave parts of your story out. I am no fool. You left out information from the others."

"So what if I did?"

"Nothing," I reply airily. " I just want the full story."

She stands in anger. "Why do you care what he did to me?"

"So he did do something then?" I feel a smirk forming.

She slowly sits back down and hangs her head, staring at the ground.

"Yes," she whispers.

I scoot closer to her, debating if it is a good idea, if I should be making myself open to her.

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

She shakes her head, but I hear her think the opposite.

"Well which is it?"

She looks at me, and I am startled to see tears in her eyes. Whatever happened to her has affected her a great deal. I pity her. She looks away from me.

"Okay. I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone!"

"You have my word."

She takes a breath and starts.

"Well, when Nat left us, he took my face in his hands and started looking me over. I felt like a piece of meat displayed for him, to do as he pleased."

I clench my fists. How dare this mortal look at her in such a way?

"He started saying how I'm not like other girls," she continues. "He started saying that I didn't throw myself at him like all the other women did when he entered the room. He said I was playing hard to get and that he likes that. Then he grabbed my waist and pulled me to him and whispered in my ear that women who are like that 'taste the sweetest'."

I hear her voice catch in her throat, she struggles to keep speaking.

Her voice quiets to a whisper as she continues.

"I told him we should go somewhere private, so I can get him on my own and get the information from him. He took me by my hand and we went into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, he tried kissing me again, but I stopped him again."

Tears begin spilling down her cheeks. I want to take her in my arms, to comfort her, but I can't. She has been terribly violated by a man, feeling she had lost her worth. She doesn't need another one touching her.

"I told him if he wanted a kiss, he would have to do what I tell him to do. He then put both his hands on my waist. I tried to back out of his grasp, but I couldn't. He bent over to whisper into my ear again. He told me I taste divine, and I felt his lips placed at the base of my neck and I began to feel him trail his tongue upward toward my jaw."

At these words, I want to find that man. To make him suffer. Not kill him, no. There are much worse things than death.

"I couldn't take it anymore, so I made him think I would please him. I cuffed him to his chair and gagged him. Then I called Nat and Clint to come."

She looks up at me when she finishes, utterly broken.

I do the only thing I believe to be justifiable in this situation. I carefully wipe her tears.

She looks at me flabbergasted.

"It is not your fault, Tera."

She shakes her head. "Yes it is. I let him do that to me. I allowed it to happen. I gave up my dignity to him. He was enjoying himself, I knew it and yet I did nothing to stop him. I'm filthy, disgusting. I'm sick. I let this happen."

I take her hands in mine.

"Don't. Don't allow yourself to think of yourself in such a manner. You did what you needed to. This is not your fault. It will not make anyone think lower of you."

She gives me a hint of a smile

"Why don't you go to sleep? You need it."

She stands. "What about you?"

I wave my hand, standing as well. "I will find my way. It's not hard when your beacon is a snoring Thor."

She stands there. I feel remorseful. I wish there is something else I can do to convince her this is not her fault.

But before I can think of what to do, she does something that surprises me.

She throws her arms around my waist, embracing me.

"Thanks for not degrading me," she whispers. "And for listening."

She grabs her heels and hurries to retire. I stand there, utterly confused. Why would she do that? She knows what I did to this city, what I had planned for Midgard, and yet she believes she has the right to display any sort of affection or thanks to me? Her reasoning must be impaired.

I head down the hall, towards the sound of Thor snoring. I enter the room next to him that has a name card; Mjolnir is written on it. I snort in disgust and rip it off. As soon as I walk in, I notice everything is red and gold. With a wave of my hand, I turn the red to green.

Much better.

I lay down on the bed but I'm unable to sleep; I'm livid. In Asgard, if a man ever touched a lady without her permission, the penalty was his hands, at least. We haven't had any incidents occur like that in Asgard for centuries. If anything ever happened to a lady, she would be seen as a hero, having to deal with something so low and dastardly. And yet, on Midgard, if this ever happens to a woman, it would be deemed as her fault. I do not understand the customs here on Midgard. They are so backwards.

And that fact that she felt like she had to thank me for not degrading her? As if this were her fault? I do not understand how mortals believed it is the female who is at fault. It's baffling.

I slowly drift off into a dreamless sleep, seeing Tera's eyes filled with tears, burned into my eyelids.


	9. Staffs and Knives

_(Tera's POV)_

The next morning, I find a note from Nat, apparently there's an emergency, the whole team is gone. I realize that meant it's just Loki and I. Nat wrote they shouldn't be gone for long, but she gives me clear instructions to stay away from Loki. I feel alone, but I don't want to find Loki, I'm still embarrassed from last night.

I decide to head down to the training room to continue practicing with my staff. I'm getting better at it, but not good enough to engage in combat. I grab my staff from the cabinet, scroll through my playlist before settling on _Hall of Fame_, and begin practicing. After about an hour, the staff twirls easily in my hands. I begin walking at a fast pace while practicing to improve my agility, focusing on more than one thing, incorporating jabs and blocks. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a dark figure standing, watching me. I stop my staff and take out my earbuds to see who it is.

_Just my luck._

"Hey," I say, panting slightly, to the god standing in the doorway.

"Mortal," he says indifferently.

There's a silence.

"What are you doing?"

"This?" I ask, gesturing to the staff.

Loki nods.

"It's a new fighting technique I'm learning."

He raises an eyebrow at me, his arms crossed.

"You're learning to fight… with a stick?"

"You don't always need weapons, you know."

"Yes, but I don't see how a twig can induce pain."

I laugh. "It's called karate. It's a form of self-defense. You aren't supposed to use it against those who are weak. You can only use it on those trying to hurt you," I explain. "And trust me, it can hurt _a lot_."

He starts walking towards me. I notice he changed out of his battle armor he had arrived in. He's now wearing a long sleeve dark green shirt, black joggers, and a pair of Nike's.

"I doubt it could hurt at all," he says, smirking.

"Of course you would think that," I respond, rolling my eyes, turning away from him. I start twirling my staff again.

"And what do you mean by that, exactly."

I turn back around to face him, still spinning.

"Oh please, you think that since you are a God, we can't hurt you."

He sticks his hand out, stopping my staff with his forearm. I'm spinning so fast that it smacks into his arm and bounces back the other way.

"Are you implying that you can hurt me with your precious stick?"

"N-no," I slightly start freaking out. I learned at a young age to never, _ever _anger a man.

"Well for one thing, I doubt you would even be able to land a blow, you Midgardians are terribly slow. And even if you did, I guarantee it would do no more than give me the sensation of a cool breeze on my person."

"Are you challenging me?" I ask, becoming bolder.

"Are you willing to accept?"

Great. Not only did I try to avoid him by staying down here, but he interrupted my practice, and now he's calling me slow _and_ weak? I want to smack that smug look off his face.

There's a look of confusion on his face, but it's quickly followed by a smirk. He's in my head again. Of course he is.

He takes several steps back, arms open.

"By all means, I would love to see you try."

I smile. "I can't."

He frowns in response.

"I told you, this is self defense. I can't strike you unless you hit me first."

His frown remains and he turns away. "I thought perhaps we can parley. Well isn't that a shame."

At his last word, he spins back around quickly and throws a dagger at me. I duck, narrowly avoiding it.

I look at him in anger. He's smiling. That idiot is smiling!

"What the hell was that?!"

With his smile still plastered on his face, he says, "I have made my move. Now it is your turn."

I smile and start twirling my staff again.

He returns the smile and flicks his wrists, two more daggers sliding out from inside his sleeves.

I step towards him, my staff a blur.

I stab my staff at him, but he avoids it, rolling in my direction. He comes up on one knee and slashes at me. I stumble backwards, unprepared at his agility and unbelievable speed. He slices his knives upward, but I counter them, holding them back with my staff. We struggle in that position for several seconds, before he stands, forcing me down on my knees, our weapons still interlocked. I'm quickly getting tired, I know I can't hold this position much longer. Loki knows this too, a smile forming on his lips.

"Care to surrender?"

In response, I fall on my back and kick his stomach. He grunts and falls to the floor. I hurriedly roll away before he can land on top of me. He gets to his feet, clutching his stomach.

"That was a dirty move Midgardian."

"Almost as bad as you throwing a knife at me," I tell him, smiling sweetly.

He slashes upwards at me, I hit his wrist with my staff, forcing him to drop a knife. I kick it away before he can pick it up. He grips his other knife, bringing it downward for a stab. I swipe my staff at him, but he evades.

We start circling each other.

"I must admit, you lasted longer than I would have expected."

Laughing, I respond, "And I hit you when you said I wouldn't be able to."

"I suppose," he says begrudgingly.

He abruptly runs to me, knife raised. I step-side and strike the back of his knee, with my staff, hard, just like Nat had shown me. He crumples to the floor, unmoving.

"Loki?"

I take a tentative step forward. He doesn't say anything and remains completely still.

I drop my staff and run to him. I kneel by his side.

"Oh no. Loki? Are you okay? I'm so sorry. Oh God. I'm so sorry."

I reach out to touch his arm, when suddenly I'm flipped on my back, my arms pinned to my sides, Loki on top of me.

He's laughing. "Sentiment. You mortals are so easy to defeat when you worry about the well-being of your opponent."

"That's not fair!" I argue. "I thought you were hurt! You can't blame me for checking if you were okay!"

Smirk still on his face, "No, I suppose not."

He stays on top of me, his long hair falling over his shoulders. I suddenly realize how close we are and start blushing.

"What's the matter?" he asks me, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Nothing," I say avoiding his eyes and before he starts reading my mind, I bring my knees to my chest and kick out, effectively throwing him off me.

He rolls sideways, groaning.

"That's twice, Tera."

I race out of the training room before Loki can see my emotions overwhelming me.

I run to my room, close the door, run through my closet, close the door and run into my bathroom, closing the door. I slide to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest.

I'm so embarrassed and confused.

I'm still ashamed of what happened with my mission and yet I had decided to tell Loki, of all people. And to make matters worse, I hugged him! I don't know what I was thinking last night. He said that it wasn't my fault, but I know the truth. He's probably disgusted by me, sees me as a slut. Giving my body up to men. I definitely can't tell Loki I know what he thinks of me. I deserve this.

Sick with myself, I take a shower, letting the hot water pour over me, wishing it would just consume me. Every drop of water that falls off me rings with accusation.

Slut, slut, slut.

The only indication of my sobbing are the hiccups I try to hold back. I had done something wrong, I would have to pay, just like old times. Memories of my past resurface with my tears, flashbacks playing out before my eyes.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. _"I'm so sorry."_

I fall to the floor, my chest heaving with my sobs. I can't breath. "Mom."

I call for my mother, asking for her—_begging_ for her. For her arms to hold me. But she's gone.

Gone.

_(Loki's POV)_

I groan, picking myself up off the ground. So close. I was _so _close to hearing her thoughts before she pulled that move on me, undoubtedly knowing what I was trying to do.

Clever girl.

I assume she had run off to shower after our little row. I'm rather surprised that she had been able to last that long against me. And she managed several hits. Impressive. For a Midgardian of course.

I head back to my chambers, still clutching my stomach. I collapse on the bed, wondering what Tera had thought that made her redden. Perhaps it is our proximity. Or the fact that I had lingered above her a second too long. I hadn't done it on purpose. In fact, I would have gotten off her quicker if it hadn't been for her eyes. I already knew they were a brilliant blue, I noticed that when I first saw her. What I did not know is that they are rimmed a dark sea green colour, and brown flecks in them. I've never seen anything like it. But there is something else behind those eyes. Pain, suffering, hurt. A great deal of hurt. I wonder what it is, but I do not want to pry. I know she is still humiliated by last night's events. That's why she was in the training room for so long, before I came, forcing her to interact with me. I know the team had given me strict instructions to not go near her when they left, but since when do I pay heed to their rules?

I heard some of her thoughts earlier, and they pain me. She believes I think of her as a whore. But I don't. The problem is I did not know how to tell her. I do not believe she would take kindly to me confessing that I invaded her privacy.

I stay in my room until dinner, when Thor and his friends return from whatever it is they were doing. Thor is trying to convince me to eat something called a-a Pop Tart? Yes, that is what it's called, but I turn him down. Thor and his obsession with Earth. I notice Tera does not emerge from her room after our spat. She stays in her room the whole night. I do not know why, but it bothers me. Something in the depths of my consciousness arose, whispering a thought to me. I immediately push it down. Down with the memories I force myself to stop thinking about, down with the rest of my feelings that I had buried long ago, buried deep in the ground along with two children.


	10. A Pet

_(Tera's POV)_

I wake the next morning in my bed wondering why I have such a bad headache. Then I remember my little episode in the bathroom after training. I push my thoughts back down before my emotions can resurface and quickly shower and dress. Before I open my room door, I hear a scratching sound coming from outside. Curious, I open my door, but no one is there. I'm about to head down to the kitchen, when I feel something brush up on my leg. I nearly jump out of my skin, but when I look down, all I see is a cat. I frown. I didn't know Tony had a cat. I've been living here for months and this is the first time I've ever seen a cat—or any animal for that matter. I crouch down to pet it. It has beautiful black, silky fur. It looks up at me and I gasp. It has the most startling green eyes I have ever seen. Bright and intelligent. I scratch behind its ears and it purrs in response.

"Ah! Lady Tera! I see you have awoken from-"

I look up to see Thor, he's walking towards me with a smile that is quickly slipping away. He's looking at the cat in front of me.

"Hey Thor! Did you know Tony had a cat?"

He looks at me. "I don't believe he belongs to Stark."

"Oh." I pause. "Wait. How did you know it's a 'he'? Have you seen him in the tower before."

"Well, actually, I- um. I have the ability to determine an animal's gender simply by being near them," he responded, not quite meeting my eyes.

"Really? I didn't know you could do that."

"Yes, well, I am not one to boast my powers."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Now, let us go break our fast. I have discovered the most brilliant invention Midgard has to offer!"

"Oh?" I ask, raising a brow. "And what's that?"

Thor punches his fist in the air. "Pop Tarts!" He runs down the hall, to the kitchen, fist still raised.

I shake my head, laughing.

I turn my attention back to the cat.

I open my arms, inviting him to jump in, but he raises his nose in the air.

"Okay, fine. Suit yourself." I stand and follow Thor to the kitchen. I'm halfway down the hall when I see the cat walk next to me, nose and tail proudly in the air. I enter the kitchen to find the whole team already eating. I grab the cereal from in front of Clint and pour myself a bowl. The cat gracefully leaps onto the counter and starts eating from my cereal.

Clint almost falls out of his seat, but I just sigh and put myself another bowl.

"When'd you let the kid get a cat, Tony?" Steve asks.

Tony spins around, holding a coffee pot.

"Oh um, hmm I don't remember," he says in mock contemplation. "Oh wait yes I do. Never!"

"So how'd you sneak it in here?" Nat asks me.

"Okay first of all, he's not my cat," I tell her. "Second of all, I found him outside my door this morning."

Bruce reaches out to pet him, but the cat tenses and starts hissing at the doctor.

"I believe the feline does not like you Banner."

"Yeah I got that Thor."

Tony walks around the counter and tries to move the cat, but before Tony can grab him, he pounces on Tony and shreds his shirt.

"Okay so we have a cat that doesn't like any of us." Nat says.

"Not true," I tell her. "Look."

The cat jumps back on the counter and starts rubbing his cheek on my hand, purring contentedly.

"Can I keep him Tony?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Kid look at what he did to my shirt!"

"Oh c'mon on Tony! You're the one who said I'm still a kid and that I should enjoy life right? Well I want to enjoy life by having a cat."

"No."

I frown. "Okay fine, but I just want you to know, if I can't have the cat, we won't be on speaking terms. You won't be of any importance to me." At my words, the cat jumps in my arms.

"You wouldn't do that kid."

"Try me." I glare, holding the cat.

"She totally would," Clint chimed in. "She refused to talk to me for a month when I put the brownies on the top shelf."

I narrowed my eyes at Clint. "You should know not to mess with my brownies."

Nat laughs and Tony throws his hands up in defeat. "Fine, my tower is already being used as a daycare, why not add zoo to the list."

"Yes! Thanks, Tony!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," he says rolling his eyes.

I continue petting the fluff ball in my arms.

"We're gonna need a name for you."

"Bear?" Nat suggests.

He hisses at her.

"Okay, not Bear," she surrenders.

"What about Bandit?" Clint offers.

The cat hops out of my arms and swats Clint's face.

"I don't think so," I laugh.

We're quiet for a few minutes.

"How about Tom?" I ask tentatively.

The cat sits in front of me, head cocked as if debating on my name choice. Seeming as though he reached a conclusion, he comes back in my arms and licks my hand.

"Tom it is," I say scratching behind his ear.

"Hey, where's Loki?" Steve asks suddenly. We all look up, realizing the God of Mischief is not with us.

"Perhaps he is still in his room? I shall check!" Thor says eagerly, running out of the kitchen, holding his third box of Pop Tarts.

As soon as he leaves, the elevator doors open with a ding. A man with dark hair, wearing a suit, and carrying a briefcase, walks out.

I tense, my hands stopping dead on Tom's fur. He looks up at me, probably sensing my fear. I don't know this man, so my alarm bells immediately go off.

"Ah, there he is," Tony says, pouring himself a second cup of coffee. "I've been wondering when our Forehead of Security would show up."

Clint chokes on his cereal.

"Your what?" Steve asks, baffled.

Tony claps the man's shoulder. "Everyone, say hello to our Forehead of Security, Happy Hogan."

Everyone waves or says hello except for Nat and I. She just rolls her eyes at Tony and Happy. Tom, who is still in my lap, stands up, placing his paws on my chest. He cocks his head, staring at me with his intense green eyes. He paws my face, trying to get my attention, since I'm watching Happy warily. Tom lets out a soft purr and nuzzles my cheek with his nose.

I take a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves. _He won't hurt you. He's Tony's friend. He's not like… Him. Just relax._

I resume petting Tom, taking deep breaths.

Happy walks towards Tony, complaining about people not wearing their badges. Tony pokes fun at him and I slowly start to relax. Happy seems like a good natured guy. I turn my attention back to Tom, who has begun to incessantly meow.

* * *

I spend the rest of the day playing with Tom. Well, not playing exactly. I try to play with him, but he turns his nose up at me at every turn. I decide that he prefers being alone, so I go down to the library to continue reading my book.

I'm only a few pages in when I notice Tom has come to sit next to me on the couch. I open up my arm, allowing him entrance and he hesitantly lays next to me, his head on my stomach. We stay that way for hours. I could have sworn he's trying to read my book with me, but I know that is impossible, so I just push the thought away.

I wake up hours later, having fallen asleep on the couch, the book still in my hands. The clock on the wall reads one in the morning. I decide to head to my own room when I notice Tom is gone.

_He's probably found somewhere else to sleep,_ I think to myself.

I walk out of the library, only to crash into something, hard.

I fall backward.

"Ow."

"I believe you have eyes for a reason, do you not?"

"Shut up, Loki," I grumble.

He offers me his hand and I take it. He hauls my back on my feet.

"And besides, why are you walking around the tower at this time of night?"

"I should ask you the same thing."

"I'm going to my room actually. I fell asleep in the library. Now what were _you _doing?" I ask him accusingly.

"Exploring," he says in an off hand manner.

"Okay, whatever. I'm going to bed, and next time, don't explore in the middle of the night." I turn and head off to my room.


	11. Backstory

**WARNING**

**THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER HAS ABUSE, BLOOD, (AND POSSIBLY SOME OTHER STUFF I FORGOT TO MENTION) IN IT! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO PROCEED I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND (THIS IS ALSO A LONG CHAPTER, I'M SORRY) AND I'M SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, I WAS WORKING ON SOME FIC REQUESTS ON TUMBLR THANK YOU MY LOVELY READERS!**

_(Tera's POV)_

For the next several months, Tom follows me around the tower, making himself more comfortable with me. He's always by my side—except in the morning. I would fall asleep at night, with him sitting next to me, then in the morning, he would be gone. But he would always find his way back to me several hours later. Everyone kept their distance from him, since he didn't like any of them. Loki would always become extremely stiff if he's ever in the same room as Tom.

One morning I wake up, and sure enough, Tom is gone. I don't mind, I know I'll see him later. I shower, get dressed, and go to meet Nat down in the training room. I finished karate a few weeks ago, so this week I asked her if we can start boxing. She quickly agrees and suggests we should use Tony for practice. I haven't seen him since she suggested that.

I'm not very advanced yet, still learning the correct form and what not. When we finish, I take another shower, grab a muffin from the kitchen and head to the library. I find Loki in there, reading. We've been spending more time together, what with the team always going out on missions. I'm not allowed to go on any of them; Fury won't let me. So for the past three months I've been staying in the tower. Loki isn't allowed outside yet so we hang out, both of us bored to death. We bond over books in the library, staying in there for hours on end, coming in the morning and leaving late at night. I introduced him to my favorite books. He acts like he doesn't like them, but I know better. I sit on the other end of the couch and open up my own book. I've gone through several pages, when I have the sensation of being watched.

I look up, meeting Loki's gaze. "What?"

He shakes his head and mutters "Nothing," before returning to his book.

I'm interrupted a few minutes later by JARVIS.

"Miss Tera, Mr. Stark wanted to notify you that he and the rest of the team have to leave for a mission. He asked if you would be capable of babysitting the God."

I see Loki clench his fist from the corner of my eye, but he doesn't say anything.

"Yeah JARVIS, tell Tony not to worry, we're fine."

"Yes ma'am."

_Finally! Now I can actually read._

Not even five minutes later, Loki clears his throat to get my attention.

I huff in annoyance. "What?"

He smirks. "Forgive me for wanting to speak, Your Majesty," he says, mocking me.

I push my hair out of my eyes. "No, no you're fine." I put my book down "What's up?"

He looks upward, "I believe it is called a ceiling."

I laugh. "No it's an expression. Like do you want to tell me something?"

"Ah, I see."

"So," I sit crossing my legs, "what's up?"

"Well, I actually wanted to ask you something."

I raise a brow. "Okay?"

"When we first met, you spoke of my powers, but there were other things you were about to mention but held back. What were they?"

"Oh. Well I'm not so sure about how true they are, afterall, they're just stories."

He gives me a pleading look. "Okay fine. So I know you're adopted. Odin took you from a temple when you were a baby, so that makes you a frost giant. You have a wife named Signy and two-"

"I must say, you know quite a bit about me, but I know next to nothing of you."

"I guess so," I say laughing, "So what do you want to know about me?"

"Your family."

I open my mouth to object but he interjects.

"When I first asked you about them, you refused to answer, but I find it rather unfair that you know so much about me and I know nothing of you."

I bite my lip, debating on whether or not I want to tell Loki about my past. It's a hard subject to discuss. Only Nat knows about it. I figure he's right though. It isn't fair that I know all this about him and he knows literally nothing about me. And besides, I would rather tell him, than he go digging into my brain.

"Okay," I tell him, "but it's kinda long."

"I have no plans for the day."

I take a deep breath. _Don't cry, whatever you do, just don't cry,_ I plead to myself.

"Okay, I guess I'll start when I was about four. I had a mom, dad, and baby sister. My sister was one at the time. Life was great, I had everything a girl could want. But then something happened. I noticed my mom was always not feeling good. She would always go to the doctor, telling them about her pain, but they brushed it aside. 'You're overreacting.' they would tell her."

Loki watches me, listening, his eyes widening at my next words.

"One day she decided to just go to a hospital. Turns out she had an ectopic pregnancy. She ended up having major internal bleeding. The doctors said she needed emergency surgery, but she wouldn't go in, not without telling me and my sister goodbye."

Tears spring to my eyes, but I hold them down.

"When we reached the hospital, my mom was all ready for her surgery. She took my hand, told me she would see me soon. She made me promise to watch my sister, then kissed us goodbye."

I replay the vision in my head, as I have done thousands of times before.

_"Mama? Are you okay?"_

_"Yes baby, Mama's fine. She just needs the doctors to help her feel better."_

_My baby sister is sitting in her lap, holding her tight to her chest. My mom kisses my head, cheeks, and hands._

_"Can you promise me something?"_

_"Yes Mama! Anything!" I tell her, eager to show her that I'm a big girl._

_"Can you promise me to take care of your sister?"_

_I didn't see it before, but her beautiful eyes were no longer full of laughter. Her eyes, blue, green, and brown, like mine, were full of sorrow, despair, sadness._

_"But you said we'll see you soon Mama," I tell her, confused._

_She strokes my hair._

_"You will baby. But when I'm gone, I need you to protect your sister, watch her, love her with everything you have. Always keep her from harm. Can you do that for me?"_

_I salute. "Yes, Mama," I tell her playfully._

_A nurse comes up, taking my sister from my mom's arms and handing her to my dad. He was silent the whole time, not uttering a single word._

_My mother. My strong, beautiful, loving mother began crying. I had never seen her cry before this._

_"I love you baby. Mama loves you both."_

_"We love you too Mama," I kiss her cheek._

I come out of my thoughts when I feel Loki take my hand.

"She didn't survive." I continue telling him. "It was too late for the doctors to save her."

"I'm terribly sorry Tera. I didn't mean to- I did not realize-"

"It's okay," I tell him with a shrug, speaking through the lump that formed in my throat.

"You do not have to proceed if you wish not to," he tells me quietly.

"No, no it's okay." I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

"After my mom died, my dad moved us so we could live with his mom. It was fine for a few years. I protected my sister, like I had promised my mom I would. I watched everything she did, making sure she never got hurt, scared to lose her as I lost my mother. Then, when I was about seven and my sister was four, there was—"

I have to clear my throat before I can continue, trying to remove the lump forming in my throat as I tell my story.

"There was an accident. My sister and I were playing outside, in our front yard, when my grandma called me. I told my sister to stay put and I ran inside. My grandma told me to make her something to eat, which was normal for me to do for her at that time of day. I was going into the kitchen when I heard a terrible noise. A little girl's blood curdling scream. I ran outside, desperately looking for my sister, when I saw her. I think her toy car rolled onto the street or something and she went to get it—I don't know what happened to this day. All I know is that my sister was hit by a car. I ran to her mangled body; the car that hit her, sped away."

I shut my eyes tight, trying to hold back the tears that are free falling.

"I cradled her head, screaming for help, but no one came. I carried her back to our lawn and laid her on the grass, still calling for help. My grandma finally came out of the house, yelling at me for burning her food. She looked at my sister then back at me. I tried telling her what happened but she was already going inside to call my dad."

"I held my sister close to me, begging her to stay with me, telling her not to leave me as mom had. She told me she loved me and that I was the best big sister. But I'm not. I lost her too. I swore to my mother that I wouldn't let anything happen to her baby, but I wasn't able to do that. I broke my mother's dying wish."

I look up to see an appalled look upon Loki's face.

He begins to say something, but I hold up a finger.

"I'm not done," I say.

He magics a handkerchief, takes my face in his hands and wipes my tears, but I pull away.

"I told you I'm not done," I tell him with a shaky laugh, tears staining my face.

"My grandmother told my dad it was my fault, that I pushed my sister out onto the street. My dad went insane. My sister was his favorite, because she looked so much like him. After she died, he- he-"

I cover my mouth, swallowing my hiccups. I lift a hand to Loki, telling him to give me a moment.

It takes me a minute to compose myself. "He started beating me. At first it wasn't bad. He would hit me with whatever he could get his hands on. But over the years it worsened. My grandma started telling my dad things that I did wrong, things I have absolutely no memory of doing. He believed her—of course he would, she's his mother. But I guess his beatings didn't satisfy her. She started calling me lazy, hideous, fat. And I believed those words. I started starving myself, refusing to eat for days, only allowing myself a few sips of water a day. I started hating myself, hating what I would see looking back at me in the mirror. Of course she never said any of that stuff in front of my dad. Foolishly, I decided to tell him, stupidly thinking he would take my side. But his mom started crying, asking him if he thought she would ever say something like that. When he was done with me, my entire body was covered in the design of his belt. I had to cover myself, head to toe—save my face—for several weeks before those marks disappeared, and I was unable to sit from the pain. As the years went on, my life became a living hell, my grandma said anything she could to get my dad mad at me, but that still wasn't enough for her. She began hurting me as well. She abused me, verbally and physically. My dad never saw any of it. He started to get even worse with his beatings. I remember this staff he had. It was at least four feet long. One day he was beating me with it so hard and for so long, that it broke when he struck me. That infuriated him even more, so he started punching my back on the same spots, over and over and over, on top of the previous bruises, cuts and marks."

I lift my shirt up to my ribs and show my lower back to Loki. I hear him inhale sharply.

No one has ever seen my scars besides Nat. They're faint now, but they decorate my skin, refusing to leave, a reminder of everything I've done wrong. A payment, a punishment I deserve for causing my sister's death.

I drop my shirt and continue. "After that staff broke, he started using other things that were much more painful. When I was about fourteen, my grandmother died. She had a stroke. When she died, I believed my nightmare was over." I start laughing at my stupidity, for even believing that for a second.

"My dad thought I had poisoned her, or killed her somehow, I tried defending myself, but he had convinced himself that I must've done something. My beatings increased in frequency and length. He would beat me for hours, hitting me so hard, my skin would break after several minutes, and I would bleed out, but that didn't stop him. I convinced myself I deserved this, I'm the cause of my sister's death, I need to suffer. I thought when my sister died, that was the worst of him, but no. When his mom died, that's when I saw just how bad it could get. He threatened to cut my tongue on several occasions. He actually got really close one time."

_I'm sitting, huddled in a corner, covering my head with my bleeding hands, whimpering, waiting for the next strike, but it doesn't come. I hear noises of metal and the stove being turned on. I frightfully look between my fingers to find my father placing a butcher's knife on the stove, heating it up. I don't say anything, any sound from me results in greater punishment. I know what's coming, he had threatened to do this so many times already, I just never thought he would do it. Terrified, I try backing up even more, but I have nowhere else to go, I'm trapped, this is really happening. I'm losing my tongue at fourteen. I begin weeping, harder than I have ever from all of my beatings. When the metal is red hot, my dad takes it off the stove and walks towards me. With my mouth clenched shut, I start screaming, I try kicking away with my bloody, bandaged legs, but it's useless. I clamped my hands to my mouth. I'm petrified with fear, unable to escape, to move, to do anything. He takes my face and starts squeezing so hard that I can't breathe. I look at him. The man who is supposed to protect me, love me, hold me, is trying to take my tongue. He managed to get my hands away, but I refuse to open my mouth. He started cramming his fingers in my mouth, trying to pull out my tongue. I bite him and he punches my jaw, I immediately taste blood. I can't fight anymore. I'm tired, I can't keep fighting anymore. Maybe I'll see Mama, I think. _

_With the blade in his right hand, mere inches away from my tongue in his left hand, I accept my fate. Not quietly though, no. I softly sing a lullaby my mother taught me. Before my mother died, we would sing together for hours, it was my favorite thing to do with her. After she died, I couldn't bring myself to sing anymore. I decide if I'm losing my tongue, I might as well do it remembering something that brought me joy. When I start singing, my dad punches me, over and over. He aims for my face, my chest, and my stomach. I turn to my side, more sobbing rather than singing, but I try to continue, showing him that he won't have complete power over me. He grabs my neck and starts slamming my head into the ground. Before I pass out, I see a figure in a black outfit and red hair, hovering over him, eyes ablaze with anger._

My tears are cascading down my face. No matter how quick I wipe them, more would immediately take their place. I bit on my knuckles, hard, trying to prevent any noises from escaping me, remembering how any escaped noises would result in my beating.

I'm too embarrassed to look at the man sitting next to me. I'm blubbering like a fool, and I know he wants nothing to do with me. I told him how I caused my sister's death. I'm responsible. I am to blame.

I'm shocked though. I feel his arms come around my waist, he holds me close to him, wiping my tears with the cloth he summoned earlier.

"It's my fault." I whisper to him, my face in his hands.

"No. I refuse to allow you to think this way. You were a child! I-I simply cannot believe you have blamed yourself all these years. And you still let that witch's words haunt you to this day?!"

I shake my head. "I promised to protect her. My mother—her dying wish—I-I failed her. My sister died in my arms, it should have been me. I should have been the one to die. Not her. She was still a baby."

Loki just pulls me closer to his chest, holding me tight.


End file.
